Question
VictorSpecial
I have a Victor Special made by Crescent Firearms Co. Norwich, CT. It is a 12 gauge single barrel. It was my grandfathers or great grandfathers. Serial # 836 351. Does the serial number tell it's age..? I seen something about "Do not plan on shooting a Damascus barrel gun". What is a Damascus barrel gun? I want to restore it and shoot it on my fathers birthday, he has passed on, but he was working on a carving on the stock, so I want to finish that and do some engraving also on the metal. There were two different models that I know a auto-eject and non-auto eject. Can you tell by looking which is which? My forend wood and such is missing, so I will need to find this.
AnswerHello Robert. No, the serial number on these type of shotguns are generally only parts numbers. Now, let's look at safety. A Damascus steel barrel is easily spotted. There are circular patterns along the complete barrel. A Twist steel barrel shows a pattern that looks like someone wound a long strip of metal around a solid bar. You can do research on these on-line. These methods of making barrels were strong enough to fire 'blackpowder' ONLY loaded shells. Modern ammunition will fit, but it will, eventually,(Maybe on the first shot) BLOW UP the barrel and, at the least, will injure or worse the shooter. If your's is neither of these, it is most likely to be 'Genuine Armory Steel'. This should be marked as such on the barrel, or it may have a 'G' inside of a diamond following the gauge,in your case it would follow the 12. This marking is found on the receiver and not on the barrel. This type of barrel can be fired with modern shells, but I strongly recommend using the light loaded shells. The majority of these older type shotguns had a non-auto eject, more commonly known as an extractor. You would need the forearm attached to tell which. You can do research on this, as well. However, this is not an important function of the shotgun.
Now, here is some history for your particular shotgun. It was made by Crescent Firearms Co. for a hardware company known as Hibbard,Spencer and Bartlett Company sometime between 1882 and 1950. The earliest being the Damascus Type. Victor Special was the name chosen by this company. Crescent manufactured shotguns in over 100 different names, for dozens of hardware companies. I am happy you are going to finish the job your father began. Stick with it!
You can find the forearm at Numrich Gun Parts on-line. It will cost about $50. Thank's again, Charles Gage
I hope this has helped answer your questions and thank you for asking for me. Charles Gage
