Shotguns

Assuming a standard model with 90-95% original finish (unless you you have a short barreled riot gun, which is unlikely), it should retail for $155-$165.

The No 26 was manufactured from 1912 - 1939.

www.gunstockinc.com

Model types can change depending on the manufacture of the firearm. The question was originally placed in Western Field. Assuming this is who the gun was made by, it may have been made for Savage or Western Auto. To get find out more, you will need to gather some more information from your piece. Some places you may want to check are Modern Gun Values or Gun Trader.

I just got one for $70, it is missing the front sight. Other than that it looks good.

Stevens used the Riverside name from about 1920-1945.

It was a brand name used by Stevens for Montgomery Wards and other retailers. They still made some exposed hammer guns at least until 1940.

Riverside was manufactured by Stevens, so if you can identify the equivalent Stevens model, you should be able to find parts. Check with a local gunsmith.

Diamond Arms Company and Nitro King are both trade names used by the Shapleigh Hardware Company of St. Louis, Missouri. Some of the guns were imported from various Belgian sources, but they were also made by W.H. Davenport Firearms Co (1890's - ), Iver Johnson Arms & Cycle Works (early 1900's - ), J. Stevens Arms (before 1942), and Savage Arms.

If there is an oval with ELG* stamped on the barrel or action, it is from Belgium. If it is a 410 that's unlikely, and that would also eliminate Davenport as the maker.

If it says Armory Steel that suggests that it MIGHT be an Iver Johnson Champion.

Most of the Belgian imports stopped coming over when WWI started.

Add Crescent Firearms (1893-1930) to the list of manufacturers. If marked model 94, it's a Stevens up to 1948. 944 will be the same gun from Savage after 1948.

I have a King Nitro, but it is a 22 pump with an octagon barrel, made by the Central arms company. I have never researched it but have always been curious about it. I would be interested in further information if available.

Thanks,

Wayne

wknelson26@cox.net

The 23rd edition of the Blue Book of Gun Values refers to Adco Sales Incorporated, located in Walburn, Mass. But AdCo had nothing to do with these shotguns. They import semi-automatic shotguns made in Turkey. Diamond Arms Co. was a trade name used by Shapleigh Hardware of St Louis, MO, on shotguns imported from Belgium c. 1880-WWI or made by Stevens and Iver Johnson of Fitchburg, Mass., from about 1900-1940.

The model 235 was manufactured from 1912 to 1932 (no Stevens guns were made from 1916 to 1920). Value will range from $50 if beat-up and rusted to $300 if like-new and never fired. Most will trade for around $200. Answer With the advent of Cowboy Action Shooting - these have gone up in value --- a decent one will bring over $300.

The slide action Model 820 was manufactured from 1949 to 1954. Stevens pump shotguns are worth around $100 in NRA Good condition. The Model #258A bolt action was made from 1937 to 1965. The Standard Catalog says $50 in NRA Good, but I doubt if it would sell quite that low.

Try your local gunsmith, rummaging through the bins at a gun show to see if you can find a match.

I'm not going to tell you to go out and shoot it, but in general, these are fairly well-made guns and if they have been given reasonable care are still safe to use. You should have an experienced gunsmith inspect any old gun before you use it. Even if the 'smith gives it his blessing, I wouldn't use any magnum loads or steel shot.

The Stevens No. 200, 20 gauge pump shotgun was the first 20 gauge pump shotgun. It was the brainchild of the famous trapshooter, Charles (Sparrow) Young. Sparrow Young is in the trapshooting hall of fame and was the first shooter to break 100 straight from back yardage. In 1910 he patented the original idea which became the No. 200. Sometime in 1912, George Lewis, one of the higher-ups in Stevens, also filed patents on developments of Mr. Youngs gun that was already being manufactured as the Stevens No. 200. The No. 200 was a hammerless pump 20 gauge which could handle 2 1/2", 2 3/4" or 3" shells at a time when most 20 gauge shotguns were single shot "boy's" guns which could only handle the 2 1/2 inch shell. The Stevens No. 200 was only made from about 1911 to 1914. It only appeared in one Stevens catalog. Based on serial numbers, there were only about 20,000 made. The highest serial number observed is in the 19,8xx range. The Stevens No. 200 operates with a very short bolt which is held in place by a tilting "carrier". It also has two blades which, when the pump is acuated, first keep the shell from rolling out of the partially closed action, and second, seal the hole behind the very short bolt. In all, a very complicated gun. It is a takedown shotgun. There is a special spanner wrench in the end of the magazine tube which can be used to turn an interrupted screw which holds the barrel onto the breech. There is a tang mounted safety like on better grade double barrel shotguns. It weighs from 5 3/4 to 6 1/2 pounds, depending for the barrel length. All barrels are choked "Full" unless the barrel is marked otherwise. The gun was meant to be a combination of a light "field" type gun for upland game with a heavy duck gun (when firing the 3" shells. But, I have been told that before WWI, 20 gauge 3 inch shells could only be bought special order and by the case and that, even then, they really didn't have a heavier charge of shot or powder than the 2 3/4 inch shells. I really like the No. 200.

Utility single shots seem to retail for about $75-$80.

What you have is this. Crescent Firearms was a large manfacturer of shotguns in the late 1880's in Norwich, Ct. In 1893 they sold out to H&D Folsom Arms Co. of N.Y. They produce many shotguns under over 200 names. As for your Whippet they were a large Chicago Hardware firm who they put their name on firearms. In 1931 Folsom sold out to J. Stevens who then were pick up by Savage later. Your was made in the early 1930's for this hardware co. You should have a gunsmith check for chamber length as they did not make them 2 3/4 inch till about 1927. Value is very low $50. to $100. this is jaalbers@dakotainet.net and I own the j Stevens Whippet model c 22. The answer to my original question sounded like you described a shotgun. This not a shotgun but a 22 rifle. So I'm still looking for info on this. Thanks Whippet rifles and shotguns were made c. 1920-1945 by the Stevens division of Savage Arms for Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Company, a hardware retail/wholesale operation in Chicago. I could make a guess at the value of your .22 if you would describe it more fully. What type of action does it have and is it a single shot or repeater? The condition, either stated as a percentage of the original finish remaining or according to NRA grading standards.

These were sold by Sears and Roebuck.

The Model 300 is really a Winchester model 1400.

SORT OF The Ted Williams 300 is basically a Winchester 1400, and the TW 200 is basically the Winchester 1200, but certain parts do NOT interchange. The buttstocks and trigger guards, for example.

Here is a cross reference chart. It is correct that Sears had some exclusive features on the Ted Williams models. I have a Ted Williams 300 that has an adjustable choke that was not available on the Winchester 1400, for example.

http://proofhouse.com/cm/house_brand.htm

Contrary to what some believe, Springfield Arms was never a subsidary company of Cresent Arms. Springfeild Arms, like Cresent Arms, were both bought out by Stevens/Savage. Unlike the Cresent, Springfield manufacturing continued after the buy out.

Some clarification:

Springfield Arms Co was absorbed by Stevens very early, before 1900. Stevens continued to use the Springfield name on certain models of shotgun. Savage absorbed Stevens around 1930 or so, and continued to use the Springfield name on into the 1980's, generally on guns sold to mass-marketers.

Crescent Firearms was originally an independent manufacturer that was bought by the major wholesale HD Folsom, which also eventually was absorbed by Savage.

The logical place to look is at your local gunsmith's shop. You can probably get the parts you need online.

Some shotguns were made for Sears Roebuck under contract with Winchester. A superposed made in 1970 would probably have been made overseas, as American craftsmanship had priced itself out of the market but for the very rich. If it's Japanese made, Miroku or others, you've got a gem. (Check proof marks for kanji, etc.) If it's Spanish made, it's a pig in a poke; some really good guns come from there, but their metallurgy was suspect in the postwar period in the more economic varieties. If Italian made, another possible gem. Unlikely that the Turks were exporting o/u's in the 70s, though they make some good ones, and Russia was still Commie back then, so Sears Roebuck would probably have not been trading with them, though two barrel shotguns (side by side and o/u) were the only permissable firearm for tens of thousands of Igors in the Street. And they made a lot of them. Hunting was still a recognized activity under the commissars. An acquaintence of mine who took a duck hunting trip to the famed marshes of Mother Russia in the post-Munich days almost had his own guns taken away by German airport police during a stopover; disassembled double guns checked through by wealthy Americans evidently rang their anti-Arab alarms. He never could get over the irony that once behind the (fast rusting) Iron Curtain, nobody gave him a second glance crossing Red Square with a shotgun case in his hands. Kind of like it used to be in Amuricuh....

Victor and Knickerbocker were Crescent-Davis (circa 1888 to about 1940) "utility" guns manufactured for various hardware stores, retail outlets, and H & D Folsom Sporting Goods of New York City.

Serial numbers don't help much on these - no one has ever tried to determine the method Crescent used to assign them or research original records (probably none exist) - but it would have been made somewhere between 1893 and 1932.

Value is in the neighborhood of $85-150 unless it is in absolutely new condition. Of course, if it is broken/worn out/rusted it will be worth little or nothing.