Any clues where to research info on an old Ranger 12 ga, hammerless, double trigger, breakover, pat. date Apr 20, 1915. There is no serial number or any other markings. And I need a stock to restore it.

For stock try Gun Parts Ltd (Numrich) in w. Hurley NY.

Rangers were "hardware store" doubles and actually pretty good guns. Strictly a low brass, low pressure load gun.

Think they were made by Crescent Arms or maybe Stevens.

Have a gunsmith check it for safety before shooting.

If you have the old stock, it can probably be fixed by acetone soaking (to get out oil) and the wonders of modern epoxies.

"Rangers" were marketed by Sears before they extended the "J.C. Higgins" trade name (name of their chief bean counter) to include firearms post-WWII. They can be Stevens', Marlins, Crescents, Hi Standards, etc.

But I would bet that yours is a Stevens Model 1915, or 5100. The way to find out would be to either copy the markings VERY accurately and ask what model it is on the Savage Collectors forum here, or ask on www.doublegunshop.com/BBS. Bettter yet, post good pix of the action and the markings on the bottoms of the barrels with the forend removed ("barrel flats") and the top of the reciever where it mates with the barrels ("water table").

Replacement Stevens stocks (should I be right.....) are available from several sources. Boyd's is one.

Good luck; I love it when an old gun "rises from the dead"!

If this IS a Stevens in sound mechanical condition, it should shoot modern ammo (probably not steel). BTW, "low brass" is no longer any guarantee of low pressure; ESPECIALLY "promotional" (cheap) shells. All common ammo must be high enough pressure to operate those doggone jammamatics, so it is all pretty hot. But you can find lower pressure shells; you just have to look for them (and pay more).

Just noticed an article in the latest issue of "Man at Arms," the NRA gun collectors magazine. Goes over all the Sears-branded SxS shotguns over the years and has pix of most. So if anybody else has a "Ranger" or "J.C. Higgins" double, you can identify and date it with this. I found it in Barnes and Noble; probably at Borders, too.

Lots of these Rangers are Stevens or Savage/Stevens, but there are LOTS of other makers, some American, some Belgian (and later, some Spanish). Mostly usable guns if in good shape, and you can figure out what ammo is safe in them; older ones, especially Belgian, are mainly Damascus barreled.

I recently got a 16 ga. J.C. Higgens double. It's a Stevens 5100, got the numbers 5100 on the right side of the reciever. I don't see how you can date it as it has no serial number, but I guess that in itself can date a gun to a decade or so.

Mine has the P o W stock, with a knob, and no checkering. It also has of all things a Neidner-style steel buttplate. The gun is in mint condition, actually, and a good shooter.

Hey Mike:

Just looked at mine under the forearm & open the action on left side where left barrel meets the frame is my serial #. 12ga. X 17,xxx. 29 5/8" bbls, 2 trigs, hammerless, just a good, knock around shooter, Not fancy, gets the job DONE !!!

... 99 LL ...

Yeah, 99--that pretty well describes most of the "Rangers"! They always got the job done and some still do.

Mine is a Ranger-marked Marlin Model 90 O/U .410 in good shape. Got it for about 1/2 what a Marlin-marked Marlin would have cost. I also once had a Stevens 5100 "Ranger", mine was a 30" 12. but I've seen many "Rangers" of many makes over the years.

The Belgian-made ones (sometimes marked "T. Barker") aren't such bad guns as long as you feed them appropriate ammo. But many have been pounded loose by too-long, too-hot US ammo that they were never designed to shoot.