doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Union Firearms Model 50

Does anyone have a link to the patten drawing for the Model 50. Produced 1911-1913, just before the Ithaca buyout? Has patent applied for but no numbers or dates. In fact only has Krupp on the barrels. I have one which has been incorrectly assembled or has major internal wear that prevents proper function. Won�t know until I pull it apart. I was even given a parts gun which is missing the trigger guard and stock. Almost enough to consider a rebuild. But I will be lucky to ever see any orphan parts for these guns.

I envy you Jon.
In the best sense of the word.

Other than the Crescent Triumph, I consider the Union Forearm�s 50 to be about as rare and interesting an American side-by-side as was ever built.

I really question though the volume estimated for the number of these guns that were produced.

I have scoured antique shops, gun dealers,and museums, around the Toledo Ohio area,in the south of Detroit, for many years, and have never run into anyone who had anything more than the most pedestrian of Union Firearm�s Company offering�s.
So, if you have become the custodian of one of their high grade models, my hat tips off to you, sir.

The model 50 was their last pump gun design. I�ve seen advertisements for graded side by sides but never seen one of them in the flesh. I figured out what the problem was with my gun was and got it working. Not the smoothest action but seems to function well. In fact I have a two barrel set with one being 26� and the second being 28�. Have not measured the chokes yet. Steel barrels made by Krupp with solid ribs on both.

That name seems to ring a bell with me. I "Think" that in my junk gun Pile I may have a Union barreled action, have no idea now how complete is or what model it is, haven't looked at it in years.

I think the Model 50 might have been a redesign of the Model 24. There some Union pump parts on Ebay at the moment.

2-piper, is your one of the early guns which would be model 24/25? They featured a second backwards facing trigger which cocked the gun. The early first design had a slide which went back over the grip which had a tendency to peel back skin on the top of the thumb if you were not careful. The 1907 redesign eliminated that feature. Best guess is that 16-17000 were made.

The model 50 came out in 1911. Maybe 3000 total made but I suspect far fewer were in fact made. By 1913 they were bought out by Ithaca so a very short production run. With this design, the extra cocking trigger was eliminated. Don�t know if they ever got patents on it but it is marked patent applied for. Sometimes they claimed that to scare off others while never spending the money to do it. Also if the design did not pan out you could just move on to the next design. If it worked well then would later file the papers.

If your is a model 50 I�d like the have it. I bought a complete gun with issues and a second parts gun with no stock or trigger guard. I need to replace most of the screws and a couple odd parts to get the first into prime shape. For the that matter I could even get the parts gun running given enough time. The design is fairly decent I have a good example to copy for any parts needed. The trigger guard would be a fairly simple thing to make with the one of those hobby mill/drive machines.

I love these odd ball pump guns like the 24/25/50 or Spencer/ 97 or Marlin. Some are overly complex and some ar fairly well designed. But few lasted the test of time like the Model 12,17, 37, 870 or 500.