doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com New Era Nitro Hammerless?

Just saw one a Cabelas yesterday while looking for affordable shells (an exercise in futility). There was another unknown double there as well (certainly unknown to me). A Forehand Arms double, both in 16 I believe. What exactly was I looking at?

The first Baker Hammerless Boxlock, referred to as the “C” Grade; “T” Twist & “D” Damascus, was made by Baker Gun & Forging (possibly) on a Frank Hollenbeck design and the Henry Allender Aug. 12, 1884 patent
https://books.google.com/books?id=5lE4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA583&lpg

It was first produced for Montgomery Ward in 1895, with Ward's name on the rib. About two years later as the Batavia Hammerless.
1898 Sears catalog No. 107 lists the same gun as “The New Sears, Roebuck & Co. Hammerless Double Barrel Shotgun, Model 1898”.



Baker also produced tradename boxlocks under “New Era” for The Fair, Chicago, Ill., “New Haven Arms Co.” (a tradename used by Schoverling, Daly & Gales, E.K.Tryon, and Great Western Gun Works, Pittsburgh), “W.A. Abel & Co. Syracuse, NY”, “Edw. K. Tryon Co. Philadelphia, PA.”, “Imperial Arms Co. of Philadelphia” (for Tryon), “King Nitro” for Shapleigh Hdw., and “Clark’s Imperial Omaha, Neb.”

American Field, April 20, 1901 courtesy of Dave Noreen



More here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zR9cn008zfbEsyaynA_u8sf9wHI6ItVi0msn2alC9ek/edit

The Syracuse Arms Company also made guns marked "New Era" that were marketed thru The Simmons Hardware Co. of St. Louis. The picture Drew posted above is of a Syracuse New Era gun. Those made by Baker are easily distinguished from those made by Syracuse; Baker frame sides show three visible pins, while the Syracuse features only two and all are in different locations. The top bolt and lug widths are also quite different. In all the years I've collected Syracuse guns, I'm yet to find a suitable example of a New Era Syracuse; the only example I've ever found was a wreck. I'm assuming not many were made (?), but New Era Baker made guns are fairly common.

Thanks Tom.
Here is a Batavia Hammerless, sold by Wards and others



A New Haven Arms Co. for S,D & G

The New Era name was also used on some sidelocks produced by Baker and sold by others.

Forehand doubles were made by Forehand & Wadsworth, Forehand Arms Co. and finally by Hopkins & Allen

Bro. Tom sent this information

The SAC New Era may have been named the Model 401 based on the picture of the orphaned barrels below.



The serial number on the barrel flats would date this gun to the 1898-99 time frame and note that they are grade stamped “O1”; don’t know what that means, although “O” stamped guns designated twist steel barrels and I’m assuming the “1” stamp indicated line engraving? At any rate I have an Grade O1 gun in the 18XXX serial number range with twist barrels and line engraving; but it is marked Syracuse Arms.

The other pic is a New Era marked gun that actually has Syracuse Arms name and address atop the barrel.



I don’t have the serial number of the second gun but both of these guns feature pre-1902 First Model frames and features.
The cosmetic differences between the New Era gun and a standard Grade O Twist barreled SAC gun are a capped pistol grip (a special order feature on the standard Grade O SAC gun), checkered cheek panels, and a line engraved frame.

I have a Simmons Ad featuring a “NEW ERA” SAC gun exactly as depicted in The Fair NEW ERA ad

This is a c. 1900 hardware store SAC listing with a cut-away illustration.

New Era Nitro Hammerless SAC in the 1898 Simmons Hdw. catalog

Thanks folks. The New Era looked very much like the Schovering, Dailey & Gales version presented here so....I'm guessing it was a 12 after all (Cabelas couldn't figure that out as it was completely unmarked on the tag). The Forehand was fairly petite as well so....who knows. It seems likely now that both were 12s. Wanted to like them, but both have too-much drop and both are overly short. Cabelas also didn't figure out that both were twist barrels as well (again, completely unidentified). There were also a number of Lefevers present (all low-grade & in various states of disrepair) so it looked to me like Cabelas had bought a collection of old doubles from somebody's grandchildren(?). Let the buyer's beware at Cabelas anymore, eh?