A. Baldwin & Company Limited -- Shotgun

[RC Cola]

Hello all,

I recently discovered that my grandfather is in posession of a shotgun that his grandfather got when he was young. I went over today and looked at it, and I have to say it's made by a manufacturer I had never heard of, and I'm having a bear of a time finding. It is a single-shot, breechloaded 12 gauge and the only markings on it are.

A. Baldwin & Company Limited
New Orleans, LA

That's it. It looks like there was something stamped on the other side of the lock, but all but the letter "ch# AL", as best I can tell anyways, remain. This shotgun had some type of door on the right side of the lock. The door was broken off at some point before my dranfather was born and a buffalo nickle was put in it's place.

Does anyone know anything about these guns? dates? Anything at all will be appreciated.

[RC Cola]

http://forum.pafoa.org/firearms-6/40445-shotgun.html

For those that are interested, here is a link to a gun I found on the web that is identical to it.

[J F Cooper]

Baldwin was a Distrubuor/supplier in New Orleans. His name has been seen on cheap Belgian Doubles. If your gun has no proof marks, it was probably made by Stevens or Crescent or one of the other U S Makers.. JFC

[Chuckusaret]

There were many Baldwin guns in my area, Mississippi Gulf Coast, when I was growing up. I just talked to my brother, he has one, and he suggested that you not fire it until you have it checked by a gunsmith. My brothers gun is made for 2 1/2" black powder shells and was produced in the early 1900's. According to my brother the Baldwin shotguns were very cheap compared to the other guns that were available at that time. Estimated value today is $200

[RC Cola]

Thanks for the info. Trust me, I have no intentions of firing this gun. The mainspring is very weak, and as soon as I saw it for the first time I could tell it was pretty cheaply made, hence why not much is said about them.

I think my grandfather was planning on getting appraised, the figures Chuck gave are pretty much what I had anticipated. I'll search the makers that were suggested and see if I can find anything and I will let you guys know.

[J F Cooper]

Old single barrels won't bring $200 in todays market, Maybe $100 if in top shape.. JFC