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When I spoke of 'lettering' I did indeed mean a letter from the keepers of the factory records. I've lettered Winchesters, Marlins, L.C.Smiths (all from the Cody Museum, inexpensive and fast), Colts (from Colt, expensive and slow) and Sharps (from the records owner, an individual, expensive and fast) but have not lettered any others. I do have a Westley Richards double shotgun with a letter from the present owners of W-R to the previous owner of the shotgun, and my friend Clarence the Collector has also gotten a letter from them on one of his shotguns, so I know that they will provide the records if asked.
The letter will usually tell the configuration of the firearm (bbl shape, length, caliber, finish, any special features, and the date of shipment. Sometimes the name of the original purchaser or addressee is available, especially on Colts. Usually nothing exceptional, but occasionally a jewel will pop up. For example, I had a Colt SA in 44-40 that had been purchased by and shipped to the Winchester factory in 1880, I can only assume for testing ammunition. I presently own a Winchester high wall tang that left the factory on a rifle with so many rare and deluxe and special-order features that it was most assuredly a one-of-a-kind rifle. Some of the more common features for this particular serial number include pistol grip and XXX checkered wood and set trigger and extremely rare and desirable caliber, but it gets A LOT better from there! I would never have known this if I hadn't lettered it.
Don't get too excited, it's only the bare tang, but it's 100% original with ~90% faded case colors and still has the little displaced-metal raised edges around the roll-marked serial number. It's interesting to speculate about how it got separated from the rest of the rifle. The fellow from whom I got it (as part of a package deal) had no idea about the rarity, he had never lettered it.
FYI, good luck, Joe
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Contact me if have these Browning Creedmoors (Read 12641 times)
