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16802 - Winchester Date Of Manufacture
1/11/2025
glenn surprise arizona usa

Maker: Winchester, Model: 94, Caliber: .30-30, Barrel Length: ?, Finish: Long Gun - Don`t Know, SN: 4922550

Question:
what year was this gun manufactured

Answer:
Glenn- Sorry, we do not know when that was made, but we know where to find out.

The Winchester Arms Collectors Association has a great manufacture date lookup tool on their website.

You select the model, enter the serial number and click to show the date.

We encourage everyone to use this tool available at:

https://winchestercollector.org/dates/

PS- they show your date as 1980

John Spangler

16801 - Remington 521
1/4/2025
William omro. wi. usa

Maker: Remington, Model: 521-t, Caliber: 22 Short Long And Long R, Barrel Length: ?, Finish: Long Gun - Blue, SN: NONE FOUND

Markings:
Barrel is stamped with IDSS star or 1DSS star. some info I found says the T was added in 1954 but the action inside has a date etched by an owner as not professional of 1091051

Question:
When was it made

Answer:
William- You may find a serial number on the bottom of the barrel, just ahead of the tip of the stock. Last place anyone would think of looking, but I know the 513-Ts were all numbered there. However, since serial numbers were not required until 1968 it is possible that Remington did not bother with numbers on the less expensive 521s. But, a serial number will not help a lot with date of manufacture unless you find someone who has compiled a list from actual guns, or it is one of the models recorded in a hand written notebook at the Ilion factory from 1921 into the mid 1940s. That can be viewed on the Remington Society of America site at https://www.remingtonsociety.org/factory-record-book-serials/ It will usually list the week or month of manufacture for each model in serial number sequence. A wonderful tool!

I believe that the ``T`` was used with the Remington 521-T from the start, but I am not sure if they always marked the barrels that way.

The definitive way to date most Remingtons made since 1921 is the date code stamped on the left side of the barrel. The Remington Society of America also has that information, at https://www.remingtonsociety.org/manufacture-dates/

Using that information, your DSS barrel date code indicates September 1947 manufacture.

You mention a ``date etched by an owner as not professional of 1091051`` but I doubt if that is a date. Back in 1960s-90s, there was a fad called ``Operation ID`` where people would mark their driver license or social security number on various property likely to be stolen, to help identify it and get it returned to the owner. We see these turn up on guns from time to time, and it probably knocks $50-100 off the value when found on an otherwise desirable collector gun. For a gun that is valued more as a shooter than a collector piece it only hurts the value a little, but buyers often don`t like the ugly marks so they are harder to sell.

Hope that helps.

John Spangler

16807 - P-08 Luger Breakdown Directions
1/2/2025
eric; pfeifer1@aol.com

Maker: Semi-auto Pistol, Model: P-08, Caliber: 9mm, Barrel Length: 4 Inch, Finish: Blue, SN: ?

Markings:
many swastikas

Question:
Where is a good place to get the breakdown directions. I would like to give the weapon a good cleaning.

Answer:
Eric, I have two books that give breakdown instructions for the P-08. The first book is, The Gun Digest Book of Firearms Assembly/Disassembly, Part 1 Semi Automatic Pistols by J.B. Wood. The second book is, The NRA Guide To Firearms Assembly. Both books have excellent detailed instructions and pictures that show how to disassemble and reassemble a variety of different firearms including the P-08. Both books also have sections that warn of and deal with any special problems that you might encounter. I would advise getting one of these books and reading the pertinent section thoroughly before you try to disassemble your Luger... Marc

16799 - Old Shotgun Part Ident
1/2/2025
Steve

Maker: ?, Model: ?, Caliber: ?, Barrel Length: ?, Finish: ?, SN: ?

Question:
I have an antique percussion pistol part and wondering uf you can help me with identification.

Answer:
Steve- Thanks for the photos, they help a lot.

You have a lock from a cartridge shotgun. It was probably made circa 1875-1910 when most shotguns were double barrel guns using cartridges. It looks like it was nice quality, most likely made in England or Belgium, but possibly elsewhere in Europe or even the U.S.

Due to the condition it does not really have much value except as a curiosity. It is missing the ``mainspring`` which powers the hammer, so it cannot be used in building a new gun, unless someone makes a new spring from scratch.

Most shotguns were double barrel, so there would have been another lock, just like this, but a mirror image so that the hammer would be on the left side of the lock plate, used on the left hand barrel, while this was for the right hand barrel. The face of the hammer is flat, which was for use with a firing pin protruding from where a nipple would be on a percussion gun. Percussion hammers were ``cupped`` to help contain any powder gasses or percussion cap fragments.

Hope that helps.

John Spangler

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