Another rescued Elsie - need advice pleaseArchived Message
Posted by Mike Higgins on July 21, 2007, 5:22 pm
First let me say I have enjoyed this forum for a few months and have just printed the form so I can join this week. I rescued my wife's great-grandfather's Elsie - s/n fwe 12322 12 ga, from my mother in law - in a black plastic trash bag!!! Mom needs the money so I gave her $1800 for it. It is obviously a specialty grade, made, I think, in 1919, has two set of barrels, 30" full and "a little fuller" and 26" i/c and mod., ejectors obviously and a hunter one trigger. To say I am thrilled with this gun would be an understatement! Has ivory beads two- on each barrel. The leg of mutton case for the gun has long since gone to it's final reward, but the gun is in very good shape, no rust, bright bores. Interesting footnote, when my gunsmith replaced a broken firing pin - one of my wife's brothers had the gun for awhile and let the kids play with it!- and he replaced the recoilpad, he found a note and a business card from the man at Brendamours Sporting Goods in Cincinnati who restocked it in 1922! I have his handwritten note with the date, etc. Quite a footnote! I have a case of polywad doublewides to shoot in it, but when I placed two snap caps in the gun and fired the barrels, I could not open the gun - appears to be stuck on, maybe, a firing pin. Took the forend off, used a cocking tool I bought from Walt the LC Smith man in CA., cooked both barrels and now the gun will open. Any ideas what we need to work on to get it to operate correctly? Value? I could not care less! It is "family"! By the way, I am 57 and at the time of my life where I can appreciate these fine things from the past. Any assistance would be appreciated. Will post pictures later. thanks. Oh, all the s/ns match on the receiver and the two barrels.