There is as much art as science when trying determine a manufacture date for a Lindner Daly. First, there are no records. Not from the retailer (Daly) and not from the maker (Lindner) in Suhl. Fortunately, Lindner appears to have made the vast majority of Dalys before 1917. A log of Dalys has been maintained by three different custodians over the last 30+ years recording the gun's serial number and description. Ken Georgi is the current custodian of Daly Data Book. Ken has published several articles to help answer questions about these wonderful guns. Most of Ken's work can be obtained from the German Gun Collector'e Assoc.
What we do know is that in 1892 the Prussian government took the Crown mark away from Lindner so they could have exclusive use. OK, that is a fact and it nails one foot to the floor but still has us running in circles. Another fact, A&D actions were patented and a number unique to each gun was stamped on the standing face.....and records with dates do exist for them. Now it gets a little bit anecdotal, In 20 years of watching, the latest lindner number I have seen for a gun with Crown with or without crossed sidearms is mid/low 3900's. Therefore, lindner produced less than 4000 guns...but not all for Daly.. from 1870? to 1892. Lindner started a new numbering system in 1893 (probably not starting at #1)to go with his new quality mark, "HAL" over crossed sidearms. Another fact, From 1893 until 1917, Lindner made about 2600 guns with the last few hundred being SB Trap guns. On a previous thread a couple of days ago Builder said his Daly had a Crown over Crossed sidearms with a 9xx serial number...huh? I've read Builder's posts...responsible guy....Daly owner! So I emailed Ken Georgi and asked for his help in sorting out a disconnect that probably interests me and the other guy still reading this rant. With Ken's permission the next thread are the emails exchanged between Ken and me.
