A single hammerless No. 0 12g had 24" barrels. There were no No. 00 12s or 10s with barrels shorter than 26".
I have never seen a period Hunter Arms' nor dealer advertisement for a "coach gun".
I realize there are no Syracuse, and very limited early Fulton records, but is anyone aware of a documented factory "coach gun"?
re: Wells Fargo guns
https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/history/faqs#Q10
10. How do I know if the Wells Fargo markings on an antique shotgun are real? "Wells Fargo" marked shotguns have become a problem among collectors of antique firearms. In general, each town's Well Fargo Agent bought weapons from local stores carrying whatever was available — it was not a central headquarters function. Just as with companies today, Wells Fargo's offices did not keep outdated records. Therefore, there are no comprehensive lists of Wells Fargo firearms.
Additionally, in recent years, many people have added "Wells Fargo" to actual antique weapons. All of this makes it very difficult to know whether any shotgun currently for sale was or was not used by Wells Fargo, regardless of the markings.
5. Is there a way to look up relatives who may have worked as stagecoach drivers for Wells Fargo?
Wells, Fargo & Co. directly ran stagelines only from 1866 to 1869, from Nebraska to California, and north from Utah into Montana and Idaho. Wells Fargo's files of stage drivers are far from complete, and mostly list drivers in California and Oregon. There is also some information on drivers of the Cal-Oregon stagecoach company that Wells Fargo contracted with.
For most of Wells Fargo's staging history, independent locally-run stage lines carried the express. These stagelines advertised in their town’s business directories and newspapers, which are usually available at state and county historical societies and special libraries.
There were many Wells Fargo wagon drivers, delivering for the Company in small towns and big cities until 1918. There is no comprehensive list of them, however. Again, state and county historical societies will have the best resources.
There was no "official" Wells Fargo gun. Local offices bought what they thought they needed at the local hardware store. So the Sacramento office might arm its men with Colt double barrel 10 gauges with the barrels 16 inches long, while the Los Angelas office might use Remington 12 gauges with 30 inch barrels.
Second, there was no consistency in how (or if) the guns were marked. WF &Co. Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo Freight. All kinds of markings. Basically, whatever the guy in charge of that office at the time thought should be on there.
Third, very few records were kept. Something like "January 14, 1887. Bought two new Colt's Revolvers, 45 caliber, SN 18573 and 21406, issued to guards Johnson and McNeil" records do not exist.
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