How old is Grampas gun?

[Sheperdess]

How old is Grampa's gun?

My Uncle would like to know how old Grampa's gun is. And the powder horn was his too and still has gunpowder in it. Can anybody give us a clue?

 

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[doublet2a]

WOW!! Nice old gun..
Looks like a double barrel cap and ball..
But I have no idea really..
I would guess 1850's

Tim

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Not lot of information about Saxton manufacturing company for some reason (maybe they had bad fire where records were lost or went bankrupt). If you look around on the internet about the company you will find 1880-1910 for most of the 12 gauges they made. Friend of mines dad use too have a Saxtons 12. gauge they are pretty good looking guns they look good on the wall! Good luck with it.

 

[osage express]

It was built in the late 1870s there abouts. Cool old gun ..Osage

 

[HutSiteDigger]

This may sound strange but was your gun brought too the Dakotas from say Pennsylvania? maybe by your grandfather.

 

[Sheperdess]

This may sound strange but was your gun brought too the Dakotas from say Pennsylvania? maybe by your grandfather.

I am sure it was, as our roots are in Saegertown, Meadeville, and Mosiertown. In fact Mosiertown was named after one of my relatives.
When my Grandfather came out here to South Dakota he wrote back to his brother "You can see a day and a half ahead of yourself" referring to being able to see to the horizon and figuring that it would take a day and a half to get that far.
And now I would like to know just how you could figure out my Pennsylvania roots?

 

[HutSiteDigger]

My E.S.P was kicking in again!!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

HutSiteDigger, I've been giving you information and encouragement so that eventually you can be as Knowledgeable as me, DCMatt, BigCypressHunter, Nhbenz, Creskol, Kuger, and Breezie (and etc, etc) are in our specialty-areas about relics. You've been making good progress at that. But your comment to Creskol (above) is "unhelpful." Please delete it ...and drop the subject.

Update, 11 hours later: I see you've deleted the comment. Thank you. I'm looking forward to meeting you at the July civil war relic-show in Richmond.

 

[Silver Searcher]

Petty squabling on the whatsits forum is why it's going tits up....

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I can't give you any specific info on that gun at the moment, but I will say this. The percussion cap system really came into use in the 1820's in limited use, it was phased out shortly after the Civil War. Rim fire and centerfire cartridge guns took over in the late 1860's, so it's doubtful that your gun is much newer than that, and at first look from the lettering, I'd guess it would date to the earlier part of that range, and would say possibly 1840's. but that's just at a glance and I haven't looked into any of my information yet. I will look into it more later today and try to pin it down for you as best I can.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I'm in agreement with NOLA_Ken. When I read your post very late last night, I did some websearching to find date-info about Percussion (primer-system) shotguns made by Saxton. Unfortunately, very few of those are listed on the internet. The dates I found ranged from 1850s to 1880s... but I suspect the latter date is incorrect, because as NOLA_Ken mentioned, the Percussion primer system quickly fell out of favor due to the enormous superiority of centerfire guns and ammunition which became widely available in the 1870s.

As NOLA_Ken also indicated, the hand-engraved (not die-stamped) maker's-name and decorative logo on your shotgun is more indicative of pre-1860s manufacture than a later time-period.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I'm not having much luck on your gun so far. If you can, would you check it for proof marks on the barrels near the hammers, and any other engraved lettering on the rib between them and post pics of anything you find? Everything I've found so far leads me to believe that your gun is English made, and would have been a really high quality gun in it's day. Another thing, looking at the photos, the metal looks pretty dry. It would be a very good idea to get a soft cloth with gun oil and wipe it down. That will help remove the grime, and also help preserve the metal.

 

[Tnmountains]

There should also be some proof marks which would help. It seems that Saxton was a Belgian made gun and they seem to have copied many other types/styles. There is a few out there for sale but even on the gun boards there is much discussion as far as manufacture. They made 10,12,16 and 410 from what I have seen on auctions. The proof marks may be under the forearm.
Really hard to put a date on it Huntress for your Grand Pa but I agree 1840 ish would be close because in 1860 they were listed in the 3 volume set under breech loading shotguns. Not bore. Nice to see him holding it now put some Rem oil on that

 

[Tnmountains]

I'm not having much luck on your gun so far. If you can, would you check it for proof marks on the barrels near the hammers, and any other engraved lettering on the rib between them and post pics of anything you find? Everything I've found so far leads me to believe that your gun is English made, and would have been a really high quality gun in it's day. Another thing, looking at the photos, the metal looks pretty dry. It would be a very good idea to get a soft cloth with gun oil and wipe it down. That will help remove the grime, and also help preserve the metal.

Nola
Sorry about that I was replying as you were. Same thoughts.

 

[Citiboy289]

There is one currently on GB but the markings look different with the work SAXON Catalog of Firearms does not have a listing for any Saxon

 

[NOLA_Ken]

As Tnmountains said, there are Belgian made Saxton marked guns also, on yours though, the quality of the engraving, and the furniture on the stock are leading me to think English at this point. We won't be able to know for sure until we can see proof marks to id the country of origin.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

In doing the websearching I mentioned in my previous reply, I came across more hits for Saxon shotguns than Saxton shotguns. But note, "Grampa's gun" is clearly marked Saxton, not Saxon.

 

[Tnmountains]

I am finding lots of breach loading examples but not bore.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I've looked quite a bit, and I'm starting to think that Saxton might be the English equivalent to the American "hardware store gun" No one seems to know who the actual makers were, and from what I've read there is quite a bit of confusion in the area of English gun makers in the 19th century as many firms contracted the work out to other smaller shops. I think it's safe to say that yours dates to the mid 1800's and I'm not certain we'll be able to add much more to it other than whether it was made in England or Belgium. It's a beautiful gun though, I'd certainly be proud to have it on my wall.

 

[Sheperdess]

Well, next week when I am back in town I will closely look for proof marks and get back to you gentlemen.
Thank you all for the information so far. Renee`