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#84613 02/24/08 02:22 PM
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clyde Offline OP
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In with other guns my uncle gave to me is a Davis double. On the left side it says N.R. DAVIS&SONS right below that it says PREMIE I would think was ment to be premier but it was stamped to close to a pin that the r is not there. Under that it says DAVIS WARNER ARMS CORP. NORWICH,CONN.U.S.A. nowhere does it say the gage, a 16 nor 12 gage will fit but a 20 gage does.On the metal of the front stock it has G1957 stamped,on the wood it has 957 stamped under ther barrle on the lug it has G1957 on tht receiver it has G1957 and a pat.#.I bought the new 18th edition of the firearms catalog and it only showes a gun like this in 16,12 or 10 gage and nothing oa a premier. Any one know what I have here?? Thank You //Clyde

Last edited by clyde; 02/24/08 02:23 PM.
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My canned N.R. Davis response --

N.R. Davis of Assonet, Mass., started in the 1850's manufacturing muzzleloaders and one of America's earliest breech-loading doubles, a sliding breech pin-fire.

There is an article by Cdr Gunther on N.R. Davis in the April 1990 issue of The Gun Report, Volume 35, Number 11.

N.R. Davis, one of the first U.S. manufacturers of breechloading double barrel shotguns, was taken over by Warner Arms Corp around WW-I. Warner moved the assets from the original factory in Assonet, Mass. to their plant in Norwich, Conn. in 1919, and became Davis-Warner Arms Corp. They continued to manufacture Davis doubles until about 1926 when they closed the plant and tried their hand at importing guns from Belgium. 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. I'd guess in the 1936 or 37 time frame, because 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.

From another source, the late Joe Vorisek's Shotgun Research Newsletter I find this -- Davis-Warner Arms Corp. was formed in January 4, 1917, by combining the old N.R. Davis of Assonet, MA, and the Warner Arms Corp. of Norwich, Conn. There is some evidence that the Assonet factory remained in use until possibly as late as 1925, and after that they assembled Davis parts from Assonet at the Warner factory in Norwich. They also had premisis in Brooklyn, NY, and offices in Manhatten. There is some evidence that the letter prefix of the serial numbers indicates year of production of Davis shotguns at the Warner pistol factory from A=1924, B=1925, C-1926, to G=1930.

My 1926 E.K. Tryon catalogue showed four Davis hammerless doubles -- the Premier Grade with fine decarbonized steel barrels in 12-, 16-, or 20-gauge for $30. The Maximin Grade which had 24-inch barrels in 12-gauge, 22-inch barrels in 16-gauge or 20-inch barrels in 20-gauge, with "a special choke to get maximum results from a short light gun", was also $30. The Hy-Power Grade was a 30- or 32-inch barrel 12-gauge for 3-inch shells for $35. The Ajax Grade was the same as the Premier but with a plain wood half-pistol grip stock "not so finely finished" for $25.

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Researcher:

I think that this subject has been covered before, but your reference to the Tryon catalog brings a question to mind:

Isn't "decarbonized steel" something of an oxymoron, since carbon is the defining element in steel?

Roy

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The most commonly encountered use of the term, "Decarbonized Steel" for us of a double gun ilk, is the barrels for the lowest grade of E. Remington & Sons and Remington Arms Co. hammer doubles. We just had this discussion over on the Remington Society of America board and Charles Semmer who wrote the book on Remington doubles posted this -- "Hap, This is probably more info than you figured you would get. There is a difference between decarbonized and Remington Steel. I don't know the content of Remington Steel but assume it is much stronger than decarbonized, possible containing some carbon. From a letter I have of a man (deceased) who was the associate curator of History at the Rochester Museum of Science Center. He was a historian. This from his letter explaining the origin of decarbonized steel. "The Englishman Henry Bessemer filled a big heat proof retort---The Bessemer Converter---with several tons of molten pig iron and then introduced a blast of air. With this supply of oxygen, the carbon content of the pig iron ignited (carbon burns readily as in coal) and burned out. The resulting material was "decarbonized steel". This was the same thing that we call mild steel today. It is the material for wire nails, auto bodies, paper clip, structual steel, and thousands of other products today". The letter goes on, " I suppose, though I really don't know, that modern shotgun barrels are made of some sort of alloy steel of higher strength than plain mild or low carbon steel. If so, that would be an argument for using only low-pressure loads in a "decarbonized" steel barrel". I think of this steel as being soft like Damascus. You'll see a lot more repairable dents in these steels than in a more modern steel."

Here is the link to that whole topic -- http://www.remingtonsociety.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2097

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Roy- I asked the same question as you during a discussion of steel. This was on this board. My point was that since iron is an element it can contain nothing but iron and still be iron. Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. Steel without carbon is iron. Another poster (from memory it was Chuck H.) cleared this up for me. Pig iron used in the ingots melted to make steel contained impurities. If the ingot contains carbon the amount of carbon introduced to create a specific steel alloy is unknown. By burning out the carbon, and introducing a specific amount of carbon the proper alloy can be made; the hardness of the steel controled. Sounds good to me.

1917 Enfields from the Eddystone Arsenal were often overheated, burning out the carbon and leaving the action brittle. This seems to be why the Eddystone in seen cracked more often than Winchester or Remington.

Sure hope I got this right.

Cary

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Cary is on target. I believe it was Miller who put it into those terms: http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...=true#Post74072

There have been several discussions along these lines. A search will turn up more. http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...e=0&fpart=1

It would be great if a metallurgist ever did an analysis of some of these barrels. Or perhaps that has already been done?

Pete

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Thanks guys! Good information and great links!

Roy

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clyde Offline OP
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Thank You very much for your information on my gun. If only these old guns could talk,what stories thay would tell. Ha Ha.. I was answered on another site about another gun by a person who went by Researcher,Would You be both??No matter it seems like You know You guns and I thank You again. Clyde

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Here are some pics of a steel barreled Davis hammer gun I just finished resurrecting.
I still need a right hand side firing pin and cover.





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Hi doubbletrouble,
I've been able to replicate a few simple firing pins by measuring the remaining good firing pin then finding a drill bit (or in one case a SS fine thread bolt) of the same diameter, I break the drill bit so that all that's left is the shaft. Next I chuck it into my power drill and then using a fine emery wheel on my bench grinder I grind the steel shaft to shape by spinning it with the drill against the spinning wheel on my bench grinder.
Give it a try, all it'll cost you is maybe a few drill bits.
Steve


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