i already knew why it was so cheap but my total investement wouldn't buy a half flat of shells. it's worth that. to me anyway. i could sell the bbl and buttstock alone and make several hundred % profit if that were all that mattered to me.
my initial thought was that it was a GI gun f/e but they actually had one of those on the rack up till recently. those are a lot smaller than this, uniform radius bottom, lower surface in side view is a straight line from front to back, and the sides are vertical with no finger grooves. that matches the pics in canfields book. plus they weren't checkered.
this one in side view resembles the sportsman f/e out at the magazine cap but then you notice that in front of the receiver it's at least a full 1/4" lower than the metal. it's all factory tho. it has the raised radial projection that fits in the recess in the receiver plus the recesses for the 2 pins on either side of the barrel that engage the holes in the receiver. the pins are missing of course but the provision is there.
i could only find references to skeet guns being made in the sportsman model as well.
