GUN FALL 2015
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/5/2015
EXTREMELY RARE COLT MODEL 1878 DAMASCUS DOUBLE BARREL SHOTGUN. COLT 1878 20801 16GA Cal. 16GA. Very rare Colt shotgun with 30" twist bbls that have tapered concave rib & single brass bead with doll''s head rib extension. Lockplates are marked with the COLT name. Mounted with nicely figured straight grain American walnut with checkered, black insert, Schnable tip, splinte forearm & rnd knob stock that has color case hardened smooth steel buttplate. Colt produced about 23,000 shotguns of this model before competition from cheap European imports forced them to cease production. Very few were produced in 16 ga. This shotgun, being the lowest grade had very little ornamentation beyond the checkered forearm & wrist. These were "working man''s" tools and usually saw continuous hard service and are almost never found with any orig finish. CONDITION: Extremely fine+, all matching (stock was not checked for matching numbers). Bbls retain 99% crisp orig brown twist pattern. Receiver, lockplates & hammers retain about all of their brilliant orig case colors, slightly faded on the bottom. Trigger guard retains about all of its bright fire blue & the buttplate about 90% brilliant case colors, showing wear only on the heel. Wood is sound with only a very few tiny handling & storage nicks and retains virtually all of its orig factory oil finish. Mechanics are crisp. Brilliant, shiny bores. Appears to be new and unfired. 48568-10 JR (10,000-15,000)