Craig, your gun was made in 1899. The record book for the 70000 series of guns was not recovered and to my knowledge remains missing. What I can tell you is that I have 3 hammer guns in this serial # range, 1 in 71000 in 16 ga.with fine damascus barrels and 2 in 72000 in 12 ga with fine damascus barrels. All barrels are 30" and all stocks are checkered with the Prince of Wales grip. All 3 guns have the bar action lock which means the spring is in front of the action. I'll guess that your gun has the back action lock and type "C" hammers according to Dave Williamson's research. All 3 of my guns had blued barrels and traces of case coloring on the receivers when I purchased them. From you description I would say that the previous owner customized this gun to his liking
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