I gotta disagree John. The "Quail Hammerless" was on the market many years before the 3-inch .410-bore shell was introduced. My family had one was made in the days of the 2 1/2 inch shell. The gun we had was just like the one shown in my 1925 H&D Folsom catalogue. My Great Uncle Art Gustavson, a gunsmith in north Seattle, bored it out for 3-inch shells after they came out. It had the bell-shaped breechends of the barrels to mate the 20-gauge frame they were built on. I now have a Crescent "New Empire" .410-bore and the breech ends of its barrels are very heavy and straight. It puts a lot more weight between your hands then the "Quail Hammerless" did. It is a Crescent of about 1930-vintage.

In early 1930 Davis-Warner was purchased by J. Stevens Arms Company (owned and operated by Savage Arms Corp.). A Stevens memo dated May 23, 1930, announced the acquisition and the intent to resume manufacture of the Davis doubles. Another Stevens memo dated December 15, 1930 announced the purchase from H&D Folsom Arms Company of the assets of Crescent Fire Arms Company of Norwich, Connecticut. The memo went on to say that the assets of Crescent would be merged with those of Davis-Warner Arms Corporation and that the newly formed firm would be known as The Crescent-Davis Arms Corporation, Norwich, Conn. Crescent-Davis would be operated as a competitor of J. Stevens. The new firm was no more successful then its predecessors. On November 4, 1935, an order of dissolution was filed with the New York Secretary of State. So, after that the remains must have been moved to Chicopee Falls and assembled and sold off under various names. The Crescent-Davis and Springfield guns shown in the 1938 to 1941 Stevens paper I have all appear to be variations on the 311. The Springfield 311 had a casehardened receiver while the Crescent-Davis 600 and 900 had blued receivers.

So, all the true Crescent Fire Arms Co. .410-bore doubles whether "Quail Hammerless" or "New Empire" were built before the 3-inch .410-bore shell was introduced.

Last edited by Researcher; 06/26/08 08:52 AM.