doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Baker Paragon or Special Order??

rev, thanks, thats more than I knew before...Do you have any idea what grade it is? It's unlike any at the Martin auction. The picture below is what I referred to as LC Smith type shaping, although it maybe the other way around.

Robert, the more I study those early locks, the more things I see different from the latter Bakers. Notice on the pictures of the locks on the other Bakers in this thread, where the location of the three screws that hold the bridle? Your lock is showing 2 screws and the one screw is coming in from the outside,instead of the inside. I wonder how long Baker kept this version in production before changing to the later version?

The original Baker three-piece lock was used in the 1890s. It was replaced with the 4-piece rebounding lock about the turn of the century. This according to Wallace Labisky's article in the May 1962 Shooting Times.

Baker references are --

The Double Gun Journal -- Vol 3, Iss 3&4; Vol 9, Iss 2; and Vol 14, Iss 4
American Rifleman -- June 1968
Shooting Times -- May 1962
Man at Arms -- Nov/Dec 1987
The Gun Report -- Nov 1989 and Jan 1991
Field & Stream -- April 1908
Guns Illustrated - 29th Edition, 1997

William H. Baker was dead before any of the sidelock hammerless Baker doubles built in Batavia saw the light of day. Even the trigger-plate hammer gun built first in Syracuse and then later in Batavia was designed by A.C. McFarland, Patent No. 370,966 granted Oct. 4, 1887. When the plant in Syracuse burned and they moved operations to Batavia, W.H. Baker was ill with TB and they brought in Frank A. Hollenbeck as plant superintendent. Hollenbeck had three patents granted while he was in Batavia and two are assigned to the Baker Gun & Forging Co.

If you would like, I can take the locks off and post the pics. It's not the nicest Baker I've had, but I would still like to know more. There are no marks, patent dates, marks on the hook, or anything on the rib. I wonder if the safety interceptors are present? When it comes to Bakers, even the most advanced collectors can have their head on backwards. Take a look at the Baker stuff that's about to be auctioned. Even the most obvious can be overlooked, like the Baker Fibegar 22s for example. One is a semi-auto and one says it's a prototype for the pump with a rising block that has not been seen before. Then right below is another pump (with block)that is listed as a semi-auto. The prototype is serial 6300...I guess that means that I have prototypes 4010 & 3674...Both are slide action, both have the rising bolt block...Even the factory letter (lot 1356) from Savage it states that the slide action infringes on [Savage Arms] patents for their pump 22...... or that lot number 1325 was restocked and recheckered by a beginner who cut his lines at near 90 degrees. Now, I'm not trying to "poo poo" the other guys stuff, I'm just pointing out the even the most advanced Baker collectors seem to have their heads on backwards. Some Baker authorities rush to label anything they don't recognize as a "prototype", instead of just saying that they haven't seen this variation before. The Baker forend below is not original either, it's a custom brush gun by Sam Koch, while apprenticing at the shop of Emil Flues, which incidently is about to collapse into Commadore Perry Harbor.
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Here are some pics of my early B grade Baker. Serial is 173

Reb, looks like the same amount of engraving(?) as mine, but how do you know it's a B grade? Is it stamped on the flats? The locks are different and the barrels are different. Number 38 has the BTCo cypher buttplate...Have you had the locks off? Thanks

I havent taken the locks off. If I get a chance I might take them off tonight. It is stamped with the serial number and a "B" after it. Also the watertable is stamped with a "B"

Here is 692 "B" grade. If I had seen an early B grade and ordered one, I would have been disapointed with the later ones.

Here is 3420 B grade Baker

My last B grade here is 5160