Originally Posted By: ellenbr

I'm going to revise this guess and say 1884-1885 due to the 1883/1884 advancements on the Anson & Deeley's Body Action such as the overhanging secondary scear and the safety.


New revision due to additional info.
As usual while I was searching for something else I stumbled across more information on South Philadelplhia gunmaker/firearms merchant Joseph Jakob. It appears he hung out his shingle as the War of Northern Aggression commenced and at least the firm, or some variant & maybe Joseph Jakob himself, till 1905. He made percussion dueling pistols and muzzleloaders to the customers specifications. In the 1870s he seemed to parallel William R. Schaefer in effort as both had 2 to 3 craftsmen working in their respective shops. He must have been an obsessive-compulsive as his shop in every detail was as clean as a pin. One could not find the shop of Messieurs Purdey any more immaculate or more organized than that of Joseph Jakob. Also his workmanship was compared to that of Purdey at the time. Upon entry to the shop, one would pass thru a portal, where a half glass door hung, noting white curtains covering the window panes, and passing across a white surfaced floor that was so clean one could take lunch off of it. A few small rugs were neatly placed in the shop. All this cleanliness was due largely to the efforts of his daughter. Prior to say 1890, one would have found several Joseph Jakob examples in a gun case with a set of glass doors. During the 1890s the guns were replaced by sporting weapon components and sporting related items. The demise of the firm of Joseph Jakob can be attributed to the lack of embracement to mechanization. After the truce of the War of Northern Aggression in 1865, one could not find a machine made sporting weapon in the U.S. of A. and the Brits had cornered the market. But over the next decade the scales were going to tilt in the other direction with respected to partially machine made and machine made sporting weapons. This transition forced Joseph Jakob's shop from a multi-man effort shop to a single man shop, to pretty much a repair facility peddling shell cutters and the like. By 1890 the firm was listed as Joseph Jakob & Sons and the reorganization may have occurred earlier say between 1885 & 1889. It was either the name change, or an address change, from 1890 foward till 1905 when the shop appears to have been closed. Something occured in 1899 and it may be that Joseph Jakob retired or expired and the sons continued for about another 5 years. This is purely conjuecture but it was a bumpy road for the firm from the mid 1890s to 1905 and possibly as late as 1909.

When H.A. Lindner hung out his shingle, he seems to be "THE" source for Joseph Jakob's sporting weapons. #2962 was a combo with a 16 bore pattern welded tube partnered with a rifled in 45-70. Either the scattergun tube or both wear H.A. Lindner's "Crown" over "Crossed Pistols". #3246 was a side by side DR in a 0.45"(45-70?) calibre with a doll's head extension on a Body Action with "Anson & Deeley Brevete #1152" on the standing breech. Both 28" tubes were stamped with H.A. Lindner's trademark and accompaning the DR was a 20 bore tubeset which I guess also to wear the trademark.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse