Posted by Tom Breeden on July 17, 2014, 7:16 pm, in reply to "Re: SBT Guns"
Hi John:
Thanks for you note. Confusion over serial numbers arises when we mix Marlin era (1945-1950) guns with SBT guns. The latter guns usually have the grade letter after the serial number but I have seen some with the grade letter in front. The Marlin era double guns are preceded by the letters FWS. Your 5 digit serial number places it in 1920.
Now I have a problem. The Olympic SBT gun was not produced until 1927. My only conclusions are that you have a sneak preview SBT gun (highly unlikely) or you have Specialty grade. Since I am writing this from memory I may be mistaken: I'll check the records when I have a chance. Maybe Jim S can chime in about serial numbers and years of production
In the meantime I will add your gun, tentatively, to my list