Posted by Dick Matteson on December 12, 2013, 8:56 pm
Received my Specialty grade today from Vintage Doubles also my special issue of the LCSCA Newsletter with the article about the .410 fraud. The Specialty is aon a featherweight frame, and all the dimensions check out with those given in John Houchins' book. Further all the serial numbers match including on the (blued) banjo escutcheon. Nice! I have very little experience, most of it being the pictures and text in John's book. I have seen nothing like this one: FW E94376. The W is upper case but is half the height of the other letters and the numbers. There is an S below the SN and centered on it.
The only other departure from the illustrations is the engraving on the right lock plate. The duck's wings are at the top of their stroke giving a more realistic image than the illustration.
So, why am I writing? Is it normal for the frame identifiers to be stamped as a part of the serial number? Also, SNs 90,000-99,000 are listed on Pg 522 of John's book as "Records Missing." I'd like to be able to verify the gun as it is in very good condition.