late 1800's Crescent 410 ga shotgun

[mart]

I have posted this on Gunbroker and will see what they have to say !!  But I may know what happened ( some day I will learn to read through carefully) !! This is from the Blue Book info "Savage arms bought Crescent-Davis in 1931 and assembled guns from the remaining parts and these guns were sold under the Crescent name only" !!  In 1932 the city of Norwich took over the Crescent factory for back taxes after that closed it was moved to Chicopee Falls" !!  It`s possible that this is a hybrid that was made from whatever parts were handy after Savage bought the factory !!
 

[mart]

Here is what the expert had to say !!
Victor Ejector was one of the many names including just plain Victor, Victor Arms Co, Victor No 1, Victor No 10, Victor No 11, Victor No 15, Victor American Gun Co, Victor Ejector American Gun Co, Victor Junior, Victor Plain American Gun Co, Victor Thompson U.S. Armor Steel and Victor Special made by the Crescent Fire Arms Company of Norwich,CT (1892 to 1931). All were made for and sold by H & D Folsom of New York City, a large wholesale and retail sporting goods dealer except the last one which was made for and sold by the Hibbard Spencer Bartlett Company of Chicago,IL. Incidentally H & D Folsom owned Crescent Fire Arms and whatever Folsom wanted, Crescent made. And what they wanted was a lot of inexpensive (read cheap) shotguns fast. In their forty years of making shotguns, Crescent made over 2,000,000 shotguns using at least 450 known names. It has been said Crescent would make as few as twelve guns with some selected name as long as the buyer paid for the die need to stamp the name on the gun. Many of these names were never recorded. I find at least one (new?) unknown name a month. As to value. These guns were inexpensive even when new and have not appreciated much since. They sold new for $15 to $25 back when the wages were two dollars a day. Value today depends on the guns condition, the amount of original finish remaining on the metal and wood as well as the mechanical condition. A prime condition example that appears to have come out of the factory yesterday afternoon might bring as much as $125 (.410 bore a bit more) while a rusty rotten incomplete piece of junk fit only for parts salvage or as a fire place poker might bring as little a $10. Most I have seen sold on the various gun auction sites have sold for between $50 and $95. Price reference books like the Blue Book don't list these generic names because there just too many of them (I have listings of over 850 names that were used).

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Ned Fall

[JoshandLila]

Thanks Mart, appreciate the research! not quite the treasure I hoped it was but its still a nice mantel piece!!

[mart]

Sorry !!  We were all hoping it would be a good one for you !!  And it is,, because your grandfather gave it to you and for that reason it is priceless !!!

[CuriousCollector]

Yes, unfortunately, even some guns -- even if old -- just aren't worth much.  DH inherited several guns which are simply not valuable.  But some were used by his father in WWII, and one was used by HIS father in WWI, and all were used by his ancestors, many of whom he knew and loved and hunted with.  Some are just beautiful, elegant pieces.  My favorites are two double-barrel shotguns.  See below:


This one and the pic below are of an old Eclipse gun, sold in the Sears catalog back in the day.  Fire it, and you take your life in your hands! -- they aren't made of the best grade of steel.  DH's "Uncle Bubba" (his father's uncle), hunted all over the county with this one.



And this is an old Springfield double-barrel -- Uncle Bubba's gift to my FIL when he was a teen.

[JoshandLila]

I wasnt gonna sell it anyway.. way too many memories, but its always nice to find out if you need to add insurance or not lol. Curious- valuable or not those are beautiful guns!! Thanks everyone for the help!

[mart]

THey are not worth much CC but those are my favorite guns !!  Have had several over the years and I just like the style of them !!  But shoot one,,,No way !! Those damascus twist steel barrels have a habit of coming unwound !!  They sure look good hanging over a fireplace though !!

[Texasbadger]

Good info here, not much to add except an in hands inspection by an accredited appraiser or auction house would help. Nice family heirloom, Blue Book is just a guide or tool to use in conjunction with actual show experience or auction results.  Here is an example with a buy it now option of $200 currently at $140

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=259568857

[talesofthesevenseas]

Thanks for posting the follow-up so that we can all learn from this. (Also neat shotgun CC!)

[JoshandLila]

Thanks Texas, thats they only other one Ive ever seen!! My stock is in worse shape but I think my barrel is 10x better so this gives me an idea

[KC]

Keep us posted!  This is a great thread!

[mccoyseant]

Hi J&L, how's the search going? I too, have the same .410 that you inquired about, and have been doing some research on it. The shotgun originally belonged to my Dad's Uncle Bud. They lived on a huge farm in Michigan. Uncle Bud gave it to my Dad, and now it's mine. It's a Victor Ejector from Crescent Fire Arms, Norwich Conn.  I have found that the .410 was the most popular gun that was made by them, but the Victor Ejector was made in the .12, .16, .20, .410 gauge range. They had two physical locations where they could be bought, Chicago, and New York. I think that they were also available in Sears and Roebuck Catalogs.  One source, I can't recall which one, said that these guns were sold in Hardware stores.  I have also seen some articles where they refer to the .410, as a pistol with a 12 inch barrel.I hope this helps. I'm going to try to attach a picture of an advertisement for the gun.

[mccoyseant]

J&L, here's on other piece of info I thought I'd pass along. A Gun Collector friend of mine said that the .410 can also fire .45cal colt pistol rounds made for the colt revolver, but only colt .45 rounds and only the revolver. Now before you try this I would check with a gun dealer first, but I just thought I'd pass that little tid bit along.

[Rauville]

J&L, here's on other piece of info I thought I'd pass along. A Gun Collector friend of mine said that the .410 can also fire .45cal colt pistol rounds made for the colt revolver, but only colt .45 rounds and only the revolver. Now before you try this I would check with a gun dealer first, but I just thought I'd pass that little tid bit along.

Before someone decides to try this: For your own safety...Please, don't do it!

[mart]

Many say this not only on this one but others too !! I would under no circumstances try it !!  I know that the person posting means well and is just passing on info but some things are best left to gun experts !!
Welcome to the forum BTW, McCoysant !!