I picked this up locally from my friend that owns a gun shop. I can't find much info on them and wasn't sure where to share it so I thought I would start here. My friend said it is a 12ga. and I guess I will check that when I get home. The hammer and triggers function and the bores are clean maybe even a little to clean. It is a little off face and I may try to shim it. I did that on a old Parker and it worked well. The barrels show good pattern that I figure is damascus. All the numbers match. It would be fun to kill a turkey using a brass shell and black powder once I make sure its safe.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/XgCdUye.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/fY5frS0.jpg[/img]

Thats definitely a vintage piece, looks to be in shootable condition for black powder.

That's an interesting piece of history you have there. I don't know anything about it, but the gun does look old - and not in bad shape either. Makes you wonder who "Red" was.

Yeah it makes you wonder. Wyatt Earp supposedly had one and Kurt Russell used one in the movie Tombstone. Some folks call it a model 1877

We'll just say it was the lost Earp brother. Red Earp.

the front trigger works like a the lifter on a Parker shotgun to open the shotgun.

Quite the old blunderbuss! I wouldn't mind owning that myself.

That's a true collectable! Nice.

Very neat!

I too wouldn't hesitate to fire one like that, if it were on face and the barrels hadn't been reamed too thin by somebody removing pits. Black powder loads (paper, or brass, or plastic hulls for a one time firing, or BP equivalent smokeless loads concocted with PB powder or the like).

Do the barrels "ring true"? That's to say dismount the barrels and suspend them by the hinge and tap them with a small hammer- they should chime like a bell. If they don't that means one or both ribs has an issue such as solder joints coming undone, or worse lots of rust under the ribs which might be eating into the barrels.

The one thing in the pics that give me a little pause is the extent to which the firing pin holes in the standing breech are hogged out. Expect primers to flow back into those huge gaps and potentially locking the gun shut after firing. Lots of room there also for errant gases to flash back through in the event of a pierced primer. Wear glasses!

I've been a gun nut for 45 years.

Never seen one with a front "trigger" like that to break the barrels open from the breech.

Still learnin...

I put a brass shim on the hinge pin and got it on face and it is nice and tight now with the forearm off. I will try ringing the barrels tomorrow. Thanks for the replies!

Neat old piece coondawg.

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/67/768/stevens-j-arms-co-s-x-s-shotgun-12


Close S/N............

A new one for me! That's cool. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for all the replies!!

That just may turn out beautiful once you get it all shined up and in working order.

Quite a find.

Good luck with the restoration.