doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Dating a photo by gun

A colleague asked me to try to date this photo of a sandhill whooping crane in Nebraska by looking at the shotgun.

It's an interesting gun, at least to me. It has a strange lump in front of the trigger guard that must open the action. It is not familiar to me, but I'm sure several here can recognize it.

I think the best way to date the photos would be by using the guy's hat. Filson makes something similar today. I wonder if it is theirs?

Brent,

The "lump" looks like the bottom of a side lever.

I also think you would have a better chance of dating the photo by the man's shoes or apparel or even his mustache than by the gun. I'm sure there are still gentlemen out there hunting with a sidelever hammer to this day. I'm not certain we could say he was hunting with a gun that was brand new that year, right?

I'd also like to spitball and say the horn insert in the forend would make this gun from Europe. But again, just a guess. I'll be interested to hear what others know/think.

Sort of, but I don't see the rest of the lever.

I am guessing that it slides straight back towards the trigger guard. The shape of the lump is well suited to that sort of action.

Indeed, it looks like a sidelever, back action hammergun with a hacket snap forend.
The bird is not a Sanhill crane but a Whooping crane!
Hat looks like a Stormy Kromer which they started making in 1903...

If you look at the side of this left-sidelever gun, it also appears to have a round lump. Don't you think? (just a gun I found on Google)


https://www.gunsamerica.com/932215674/an...rels-LONDON.htm

I see what you mean, but the shape looks a little different to me, more conducive to pulling straight back. It looks concave on the forward face of the lump like it would fit one's finger when pulling straight back.

I also don't see where the lever wraps around to the side, but maybe the angle is wrong. I do see the possibility of the side lever through the trigger guard between the triggers. So....

Blue Grouse, yes that is a Whooper. I have no idea why I typed sandhill.

I think that's the point of dating this photo actually. It would probably be near the end of the whooping crane's original populations in Nebraska.

A lot of studio photos like this one use stage props and guns. Sometimes shoes can help when they don�t match the rest of the outfit. That projection on the underside could be for a side lever pivot point or a latch to hold the gun closed. There is a similar looking one on Holts auctions now or the recently completed auction. Too many photos all seem to run together after a while.

I'm becoming convinced it is a side lever gun. Can anyone put a brand to it? I realize there are lots of possibilities, but could it be something common like a Remington for instance. The shape of the forearm tip inlay may help, if only I knew more about American shotguns, and, of course, it may not be American.

Elm Creek Nebraska is just west of Kearney and a couple miles off the Platt River. So that would seem to be a great place to shoot the last Whooper in Nebraska. The bird looks limp and fresh. If he brought the bird, I'd bet he brought the gun.

You will see a lot of Wm Moore side lever doubles and a lot of Belgian made side lever guns under a lot of names. A few high grade British makers had side lever guns like Grant. The Wm Moore doubles tended to have a more flat rear profile than this gun but that might just be the angle. Do consider back in this time frame Belgian doubles were very common and not thought of as a much to be avoided gun. Black Powder might have shot them loose but few people shot more than a few hundred shells a year, and all at game. Great picture by the way.