I recently acquired a single shot shotgun [12 ga.] That's marked N.R. Davis and Sons Assonet Mass. U.S.A... I was looking for a model number and serial number but found neither.. Removed the barrel and still no numbers.. It's nearly pristine with the wildest bluing job I've ever seen. Looks like a fistful of worms were dumped into the bluing while still wet.. The receiver, trigger , trigger guard, and hammer have this distinctive pattern in the bluing.. Anyone ever seen one of these or can someone identify this rifle ? or maybe venture a guess as to it's age..?? Thanks , Roy
N.R. Davis and Son was in business from 1853 until 1919 When they became Davis Warner. Your shotgun was probably made in the late 1800's but with out pictures it is hard to tell. Well made shot guns by the standards of the time. The only thing that comes to mind in reference to the finish is perhaps Damascus, other wise don't have a clue. Only the larger manufactures bothered with serial numbers and models in those by gone days. The larger manufactures used serial numbers for inventory and quality control, the little guys didn't even bother, their output was so low they could keep count on their fingers and toes and in cases where they had to count to 21 they would drop their drawers.
It sounds like you are describing Color Case Hardening which was very common on receivers. N. R. Davis guns were low end guns made to sell at a price. From my personal experience with the double guns the workmanship leaves something to be desired. The sears were often soft and did not hold up resulting in a gun that would not work and sometimes this explains why they look so good since they saw little use when broken.
Not to disagree, but the Grade c hammerless is listed at 900 in excellent, grade D, 875, even the newer Crescent Davis is listed 700. Granted, they are not L.C. Smiths, but even so they seem to be regarded in a little higher esteem than the H&A's and other such Store brands. So, don't know. You're right, I didn't think of case hardening, I've never heard it referred too in such a manner as worms crawling on a wet finish.
The Davis guns have a following among American doubles but they are still not a very high quality gun, for that matter the L C Smith and Fox are not all that good either. The LC Smith uses the least amount of parts possible to build the locks. The fit and finish of the guns is nothing like a Parker which sold its V Grade for about twice the price of a Smith or Fox. Even the highest Grade Smiths had the same basic lock, just with more polish. Fox has a good design and works well but the quality of work in not all that great. I have had many of these guns apart and Nothing compares to "The Old Reliable"
Post some pics and I may be able to help. I have a very nice .410 that I researched awhile back and have some of their early literature--although I found no evidence that they even made a .410.... The single-shot shotguns were largely utilitarian and built like an anvil--their motto was "As good as the best," but my own observations (having both) is that they were comparable to the Iver Johnson's of the time. Here is a link I came across, again, please post some pics:
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