doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Union Fire Arms Company: Revisited

I am still digging up bits about this company.
Union Fire Arms Company of Toledo, Ohio manufactured pump guns for Sears and others. I find them listed as the model 24, 25, 25A(Trap) and 50. A Single Shot model 18. The doubles are listed as models 22 and 23. As the designs were improved/changed the model numbers appear to stay the same. In 1911 the company name changed to Union Arms Company. 1913 Sold to Toledo Arms Co. which began operations in 1871 in Toledo, OH. In 1916-17 Toledo Arms was bought by Ithaca. The pump guns in my possession have the model numbers stamped on the bottom front of the frame. The model 24's are stamped "2-4". I happened upon pictures of another pump model recently. It is stamped "2-7". I do not have all the Union Fire Arms Co. catalogs but I have never heard of a model 27 nor seen one until now. It is a Hammer pump.








More to come,

John

I have a 20 gauge pump made by them(Union Fire Arms) which is only marked with the words "flussstahl-Krupp-Essen-H77" on the barrel and "Patent applied for" on the left side of the receiver. Underside of the action is "M60" "339" "3". Krupp is of course the steel company who made the barrel. 339 is the serial number. I have a second partial gun for spare parts and an extra shorter barrel. Same markings except the serial number which is 251. Interesting thing is that both guns have a solid rib.

The gun is very hard to pump because it uses a striker firing pin instead of a hammer. You get no mechanical advantage when you cock the gun. So the last half inch rearward travel takes 90% of the effort. You can see why the design failed the first time you try to pump the gun. Shooting doubles at skeet is very difficult due the the effort required to pump the action. You need to drop the gun off the shoulder to work the action.

KY Jon,
I have not found much mention of the Model 60. The Model 50 is listed in the 1912 Union Arms Co. catalog.




The Model 60 appears to be the same design as the Model 50 but a high grade. All examples I have noted are 20ga guns.







I am finding an inconsistency with the numbers stamps on the bottom of some models as being the model number. All model 24 pump guns I have witnessed have the "2-4" stamp. Recently I have found both double guns and this Model 60 with the same "2-4" or "2-5". Do any of you have a grasp on what these numbers actually represent?

John

Mine is not a high grade. It is a field grade gun. At first I thought the Model 60 must have come out shortly before their sale to Ithaca but I know that�s not the case using Krupp barrels. After the start of WWI Krupp barrels became scarce quickly. I doubt a small struggling maker like this one had a large supply of higher dollar barrels on hand. So I think we are looking at a 1913-1915 time frame. From what I understand they also made a number of low dollar guns for Sears also so perhaps the bulk of their production may have been under that area.

KY Jon,
Toledo Fire Arms Company purchased Union in 1913. This is also the time that the name was changed to Union Arms Company. The 1912 catalog still listed the Model 22 & 23 Hammerless SxS,but they were a different gun. Gone was the Colton inspired sidelock. The new Hammerless was a sideplated boxlock of Lefever descent.

John

John,

There were two companies with similar names in that era, so you need to be sure which was which.

Union Fire Arms of Toledo, OH
Union Arms Co. of (somewhere), NY

NDG

Nudge,

Union Arms Co., NYC, NY was a much early period. They produced percussion rifled muskets during the Civil War.

John