I just received a new 12ga SxS shotgun and can’t find any info on it. Only writing on it besides serial number is Illinois Special.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Looks like one of the Manu utilitarian shotguns put out by Cresent Arms, Stevens, or the like. These companies would contract out to anyone that ordered enough guns and would stamp whatever the buyer wanted on the gun.

I would guess it is from Cresent Arms as they were a significant player in that market. I would not rule out Stevens as it looks like one of their early models too. In any event, it looks to be a pretty decent example of a commonly seen gun of the early part of the last century.

That’s what I was leaning towards after my goggle search. But I found nothing with Illinois Special.
Any idea on the years I could have been produced?

Yep... let me know if you sell it...

Definitely not for sale.

That was clearly made when the majority of folks in Illinois liked guns. That equals a LONG time ago, like before Chicago was incorporated....

I don't think there are any complete records for Crescent Arms, I heard/read someplace there were at least 100 known names and suspected at least that many more. Since any hardware store, merchantile, department store, auto parts store, cooper, hotel, or any other entity willing to buy a minimum number of guns could have whatever they wanted stamped on the gun, it means there are likely hundreds of "brand names" out there no one will ever know about. And that is just what Crescent is thought to have pumped out, there are several others that did the same thing, not to mention imports from Europe though that does not look like one.

As for date of manufacture, the roundish receiver looks to be 1900-mid 1920s. I had a Stevens very similar looking to yours and it was extrapolated to 1919 +/- a couple years. That style of receiver seemed to fade out in the mid-20s though I have seen records of some leaving the factory around WWII. Those may have been from parts misplaced and later found which was not unheard of back then.

Woodsmaster thank you for the info.
So if it was a Stevens it would definitely be marked Stevens? And Stevens bought Crescent?
Can I look up the serial number somewhere?

It is highly unlikely the actual manufacturer would have had any identifying markings on the gun, no matter who made it. The exception would be the "Belgian" guns as they would have had proofmarks which one might use to reduce the possibilities. Even then it would be long odds against.

Crescent did not keep very organized records and did not seem to have any rhyme or reason to their serial numbers. As they anonymously punched out guns under so many names that is not surprising. A quick look at a Savage source gave a brief mention of Crescent Arms (which Savage bought in 1930, not Stevens as I thought) and it is stated that Crescent produced guns under 500+ known names plus an unknown additional number. If the purchaser paid for the stamp and ordered a handful of guns, Crescent would d put any name on the gun.

Cresent was only one of many companies that would stamp a firearm however the buyer wanted. Stevens, Meridian, Harrington & Richardson, Iver Johnson, Merwin & Hulbert, the previously mentioned European sources, and at least a dozen other manufacturers provided the same service. Many of the firearms were very similar in appearance to each other which makes differentiating them difficult. The same "brand name" may also appear on firearms of different manufacturers as buyers changed sources. In the low price market, finding a particular manufacturer will be difficult unless one gets lucky and finds an identifying number on some part or is able to compare in detail their gun with examples from the suspected manufacturer.

The only advice I can give is to be happy with owning a decent condition utility gun. Odds are slim to none that you will be able to determine who actually made it. Knowing will not add anything to the value beyond what it currently has.

Might, might, be of Hopkins & Allen manufacture. Iver Johnson made doubles on the H&A pattern after WWI.

I’ve look at pictures of the old Stevens and I thought for sure that’s what I have. I was going by the side of the receiver having only two pins. But all the Stevens pictures I’ve looked at have a flat receiver.
The receiver does look like a Crescent but every picture I’ve looked at has multiple pins and screws.