doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Baker Superba SBT

Wow
https://www.trapshooters.com/threads/superba-an-early-baker-one-barrel-trap-gun.864333

Nice.

Best,
Ted

Well done Dr. Drew

Merry Christmas & a Happy Holiday Season from the Green Isle

Beautiful early gun. The catalog picture of the Superba SBT with the $285 price is from a 1920s H & D Folsom Arms Co. catalog.

In the 1911 Baker catalog it was $200 --



By 1915 the price was down to $175 --



just before the WW-I inflation got going.

Drew, that's a beautiful presentation of the Superba. The writer should be commended for his presentation.

I was fortunate enough to handle of these in person at my trap club a couple of week ago. It was very impressive and the workmanship was outstanding. The owner exclusively shoots vintage SBT guns/doubles and shoots them very well. He is a wealth of knowledge on single barrel trap guns and side by sides. He owns ALL of the makers/grades and it is always exciting to see what he will be shooting, as they all get exercised.
Merry Christmas to all!

Thanks Daryl. Bob is following this thread. Do you have an opinion regarding the engraver?

Just noticed Researcher's 1915 Baker image shows a recoil pad with 5 holes. It's not a Huntley Shock Absorber or "Perkins"; maybe the American Silver pad (sometimes called Grieb)?

Drew, in 1915 the Jostam AntiFlinch had become available, along with the Jostam 3-Ply. The illustration looks like the former.

As to the engraver of Superba #25, I'll have to guess. About that time in 1909 Frank Mason was leaving Baker Gun and Forging Co. to go into business on his own. I have some correspondence between Baker Gun and Forging Co. and Rudolph Kornbrath dated around 1913 with Baker saying they had not been happy with recent engraving and Kornbrath then came aboard. He probably engraved for them , as a subcontractor, until the end of gun production in 1919. Most of the later trap guns seem to show his hand. There are some examples of Folsom made Bakers engraved by Kornbrath, too.

I cannot say who did Superba #25 . It could have been Mason, but his style does not jump out at me. It's a special gun and could have been engraved by another engraver, whose identity I do not know.

I have just taken another look at #25 and notice the foreground foliage motif is similar to most of the trap guns in the 1-250 serial number range. Also found on a few doubles after 1909. It seems then that all of those guns , made from approx. 1909-1913 may have been done by the same hand. Not by Mason or Kornbrath, though. Remember, too, that many guns, especially higher grades in all makes could have multiple engravers on the same gun.

As an aside, I find it interesting that purpose built clays guns like these and others often have birds and hunting scenes engraved on them. Surprising there aren't more images of people trap shooting, etc. I've seen those of course, but it's not common.

Excellent presentation, wonderful photos!