Posted by Tom Archer on September 9, 2016, 12:56 pm, in reply to "Eagle Grade"
Although Jim may have an odd record and I suggest you do submit a request for a research letter, the truth is that particular serial number record may not be available. Since we know Eagle Grade production was halted during the 1930's, we know that your gun was manufactured between 1913 and the end of Eagle Grade production. If we study the serial number records that have survived, we know that your serial number would have been assigned to a serial number block reserved for post-13 auto-ejector guns; and we also know that there no serial number records available for early post-13 ejector guns above 219,750. However, study has also confirmed that an unknown number of guns from this early post-13 production era were produced, and still exist with numbers above 219,750. Yours is one example; and I've personally handled a 12 gauge Specialty, and a 16 gauge Premier Grade gun from this same period with serial numbers in the 220XXX range. These serial number discrepancies came about as the result of the Hunter Arms bankruptcy in 1917, and continued thru late 1918 when the company was finally reorganized and a new serial number block was begun at serial number 100. And although we can't exactly date your Eagle, we can tell you with certainty that it was built at some point in this 1917-18 time frame. Hope this helps. Tom