What an absolute trip! I just saw one of these at a garage sale in 12 gauge for $100 flat! A shotgun over 100 years old in working condition for only $100. The one I saw was marked H&R 1903… it is the EXACT same gun. The trigger guard and action release are exactly the same. I think it’s probably worth like 300.
Local shop has a pair of Bay State rifles on consignment. Don`t know a thing about them. Asking prices pretty high. Think they were asking $650 each and not in all that good of condition. The guy who founded Davenport Arms also worked for Hopkins & Allen and designed some of the stuff made by Hopkins & Allen. Josh Davenport who runs Soap Creek Armory is one of his decedents and has quite a collection of Davenport shotguns and rifles. Including one of the big 8 gauge guns.
Shep, this comment was the last thing I read last night as I fell asleep and had a whole dream about Davenport in the designers office, a huge wooden floored workshop, in the Hopkins and Allen factory where I was his assistant and he was very abusive accusing me of being a spy for Martin Bye. I grabbed his paper drafts from his workbench and ran. I showed up at your place to tell you what happened and you told me that you had a secret to tell me, your name wasn’t really Shep, but was Martin Bye. You took the paperwork from my hand and showed me that it was the patents for the Bay State with my name signed at the bottom along with yours….and you handed me this here shotgun. Would you believe when I woke up I actually checked the real patent paperwork? I gotta start a cooking channel or something…….
Using 2.75” shells in a 2.5” chamber SIGNIFICANTLY drives pressure up due to forcing the wad/shot column past the crimped end of the hull because the crimp is NOT fully opened, creating a bottleneck.
Great Video, I learned a lot about my H & R Bay State 16 Ga. Shotgun. I now know it is a Model 1908 Second Variation made between 1922 and 1930. It has the 2 3/4 chamber and the long snap on forearm and it has a weight of 6 lbs and 10 ozs. Thank you so much for the information in this video. Could you possibly add links to your sources for all the print outs you showed in this video. Thanks again.
Sometimes that gets dicey in regards to RUclips policy. If the URL I supply links to a website that also sells firearm parts or accessories my entire channel can be eradicated and I don’t have the time to vet every single one of these links to see if they are purely informational. The patents you can get on Google patents with the patent number. Those other pages, you might be able to see the website right on and across the printed page. For some of the other pages, if you copy sections of the text directly into a Google search exactly how it’s written you will probably find the page.
General rule is field stock (a lot of drop in the comb) you have to cover the bird more with the barrel. and that varies where you put your cheek ,because there is so much drop the farther you go back. Trap or skeet stock is more or less straight, or it is raised up like a Montecarlo style. That enables you to put the bird on top of the bead so you can keep your eye on the bird the whole way through its arc. Just as an experiment, you could tape a pad on top of the stock to see if that would help, or just shoot a piece of cardboard at 30 yrds, to see where it is hitting. Have a good one
Interesting.....honestly, I have NO experience with messing with the stock to fine tune this type of thing but have seen the adjustable stock pieces on other shotguns. I might experiment with taping a pad on the stock for this one and a few others I have that shot single digits and see if that does anything. Great info, thanks.
Yikes. Found this online…. “Old 16-gauge shotguns may be chambered for either 2-1/2" (very rare) or 2-9/16" (common) shotshells. Either of these chambers are a dangerous combination with modern 2-3/4" ammo.” Measure it the way I did. Let me know what you find.
Thats def old - Super cool. The city "worcester" is pronounced "Wister" - I have several NEF and H&R single shots, but no Bay States. I almost picked up a 16 Guage Iver Johnson single shot shotgun they were made in Fitchburg MA, one town away from me. Actually the NEF factory in Gardner mass is one town away from me too. At some point, I want to drive around Mass and take pics of the factories these old guns were made in, maybe do some history on them - Just haven't had time. No SN? - is that a Ghost Gun? LOL
The Bay State guns were supposed to be a cheaper department store brand, but they don’t seem to be cheaper in any respect. Not only does it have a serial number, it has matching serial numbers! Go H & R! Thanks for tuning in.
@@MilsurpGarage boy that’s interesting… I know you know the old JC Higgins, JC Penney, Kmart and other box store guns were made by like High Standard, Mossberg, Marlin, etc, and we’re definitely as high quality as the brand names were…
@@crankygunreviews Yeah, Mossberg especially with all the little variations…. Some of those variations were just for the store brands. Oh, sorry Mr Cranky, didn’t even realize it was you. We have the disease my good man…we have the disease.
@@MilsurpGarage ooh- question for you too… if you had a ratty Mossberg 44US that had no sights, but was drilled and tapped for a scope mount, would you a) ante up and buy nice peep sights for basically what you paid for the whole gun, or b) but a weaver scope mount and a nice 2-7 or 3-9x scope like a BSA Sweet 22?
Milsurp garage, Don’t they have a patterning board. To give you a look see to where you are shooting ? My range has a 4x4 metal plate with a hole in the middle of about 4” in the center. They also have a paint type material that stays soft on a roller so after you shoot you paint the board for the next shooter. There are also yardage markers out to 40 yards just so you know what your shotgun and you are doing.👍👍👍🇺🇸✌🏻
At my trap range they have a field set up as a patterning area with large targets you can buy for the purpose. Never used it before. $15 plus targets. There’s also a general purpose outdoor range that’s $20 for the day….rifle, pistol, and shotgun areas….that might be better as I can fit the patterning into a day of shooting.
The gun forums are full of info on these shotguns. Apparently people collect them but that's how I found out that mine was made in the '30s -40s. The serial number is how they date them.
No, that’s a common mistake. All of the old ones seem to have an A prefix. I touch on that in the video. There are thousands of people out there who mistakenly believe they have a 1940 Bay State.
I ordered a weirdly named beer in Boston once and got thrown out of the bar. No idea what Sam Adams nonsense I said wrong. I come from a place with Indian names and do just fine….who can pronounce these British places named by some cloth eared bint?!? Just kidding Massachusetts, I love you. Please go out there and vote though, you need some help.
So many shotguns of different manufacturers look like this and follow the Davenport Patent......I think that particular store was in Pennsylvania. Thanks for tuning in!
@@grassroot011Should do a video on that. My RANGE has a patterning board that you pay 15 bucks for. Maybe I’ll give it a try and do a video while doing it.
Love these old single shots
Wow i just bought a .410 Bay State last week on gb. Waiting on it. Looks like its gonna be a handy little scattergun.
What an absolute trip! I just saw one of these at a garage sale in 12 gauge for $100 flat! A shotgun over 100 years old in working condition for only $100. The one I saw was marked H&R 1903… it is the EXACT same gun. The trigger guard and action release are exactly the same. I think it’s probably worth like 300.
Local shop has a pair of Bay State rifles on consignment. Don`t know a thing about them. Asking prices pretty high. Think they were asking $650 each and not in all that good of condition.
The guy who founded Davenport Arms also worked for Hopkins & Allen and designed some of the stuff made by Hopkins & Allen.
Josh Davenport who runs Soap Creek Armory is one of his decedents and has quite a collection of Davenport shotguns and rifles. Including one of the big 8 gauge guns.
Shep, this comment was the last thing I read last night as I fell asleep and had a whole dream about Davenport in the designers office, a huge wooden floored workshop, in the Hopkins and Allen factory where I was his assistant and he was very abusive accusing me of being a spy for Martin Bye. I grabbed his paper drafts from his workbench and ran. I showed up at your place to tell you what happened and you told me that you had a secret to tell me, your name wasn’t really Shep, but was Martin Bye. You took the paperwork from my hand and showed me that it was the patents for the Bay State with my name signed at the bottom along with yours….and you handed me this here shotgun.
Would you believe when I woke up I actually checked the real patent paperwork?
I gotta start a cooking channel or something…….
@@MilsurpGarage 🙂
Very informative video I love anything H&R I own four 22 revolvers,one 32 revolver and a 20 gauge single shot
Nice!
Very similar to my iverjohnson single,16 gauge , I’ve tried to research it.
Great vid.
Cool, thanks. Yeah, I think they all follow that Davenport patent. .
I have my grandfather's old Bay State 12ga. It's full choke and holds a helluva tight pattern. Great turkey gun.
Using 2.75” shells in a 2.5” chamber SIGNIFICANTLY drives pressure up due to forcing the wad/shot column past the crimped end of the hull because the crimp is NOT fully opened, creating a bottleneck.
@@TheIrishAmish Mines chambered for up to 3".
Great Video, I learned a lot about my H & R Bay State 16 Ga. Shotgun. I now know it is a Model 1908 Second Variation made between 1922 and 1930. It has the 2 3/4 chamber and the long snap on forearm and it has a weight of 6 lbs and 10 ozs. Thank you so much for the information in this video. Could you possibly add links to your sources for all the print outs you showed in this video. Thanks again.
Sometimes that gets dicey in regards to RUclips policy. If the URL I supply links to a website that also sells firearm parts or accessories my entire channel can be eradicated and I don’t have the time to vet every single one of these links to see if they are purely informational. The patents you can get on Google patents with the patent number. Those other pages, you might be able to see the website right on and across the printed page. For some of the other pages, if you copy sections of the text directly into a Google search exactly how it’s written you will probably find the page.
General rule is field stock (a lot of drop in the comb) you have to cover the bird more with the barrel. and that varies where you put your cheek ,because there is so much drop the farther you go back. Trap or skeet stock is more or less straight, or it is raised up like a Montecarlo style. That enables you to put the bird on top of the bead so you can keep your eye on the bird the whole way through its arc. Just as an experiment, you could tape a pad on top of the stock to see if that would help, or just shoot a piece of cardboard at 30 yrds, to see where it is hitting. Have a good one
Interesting.....honestly, I have NO experience with messing with the stock to fine tune this type of thing but have seen the adjustable stock pieces on other shotguns. I might experiment with taping a pad on the stock for this one and a few others I have that shot single digits and see if that does anything. Great info, thanks.
Can't wait to see what you got cookin Mil!
We are on fire!
For about 20 years I had a mod. 1900 in 16 ga. The chamber size... now I know why it kicked so hard!
😂
Yikes. Found this online….
“Old 16-gauge shotguns may be chambered for either 2-1/2" (very rare) or 2-9/16" (common) shotshells. Either of these chambers are a dangerous combination with modern 2-3/4" ammo.”
Measure it the way I did. Let me know what you find.
@@MilsurpGarage yep, measures 2 9/16.
So 2 3/4 ammo might not be a good idea. Don’t know much about 16 gauge….are other sizes available.
Harrington and Richardson 😀😀😀😊😎👍🏼 Ooooooh Yea Another Mil Surp Garage Rabbit Hole 😀
Oh yeah!
Grew up hunting with one !!!
Nice!
Thats def old - Super cool. The city "worcester" is pronounced "Wister" - I have several NEF and H&R single shots, but no Bay States. I almost picked up a 16 Guage Iver Johnson single shot shotgun they were made in Fitchburg MA, one town away from me. Actually the NEF factory in Gardner mass is one town away from me too.
At some point, I want to drive around Mass and take pics of the factories these old guns were made in, maybe do some history on them - Just haven't had time.
No SN? - is that a Ghost Gun? LOL
The Bay State guns were supposed to be a cheaper department store brand, but they don’t seem to be cheaper in any respect. Not only does it have a serial number, it has matching serial numbers! Go H & R!
Thanks for tuning in.
@@MilsurpGarage boy that’s interesting… I know you know the old JC Higgins, JC Penney, Kmart and other box store guns were made by like High Standard, Mossberg, Marlin, etc, and we’re definitely as high quality as the brand names were…
@@crankygunreviews Yeah, Mossberg especially with all the little variations…. Some of those variations were just for the store brands. Oh, sorry Mr Cranky, didn’t even realize it was you. We have the disease my good man…we have the disease.
@@MilsurpGarage lol. Yes we do :)
@@MilsurpGarage ooh- question for you too… if you had a ratty Mossberg 44US that had no sights, but was drilled and tapped for a scope mount, would you a) ante up and buy nice peep sights for basically what you paid for the whole gun, or b) but a weaver scope mount and a nice 2-7 or 3-9x scope like a BSA Sweet 22?
Milsurp garage, Don’t they have a patterning board. To give you a look see to where you are shooting ? My range has a 4x4 metal plate with a hole in the middle of about 4” in the center. They also have a paint type material that stays soft on a roller so after you shoot you paint the board for the next shooter. There are also yardage markers out to 40 yards just so you know what your shotgun and you are doing.👍👍👍🇺🇸✌🏻
At my trap range they have a field set up as a patterning area with large targets you can buy for the purpose. Never used it before. $15 plus targets.
There’s also a general purpose outdoor range that’s $20 for the day….rifle, pistol, and shotgun areas….that might be better as I can fit the patterning into a day of shooting.
The gun forums are full of info on these shotguns. Apparently people collect them but that's how I found out that mine was made in the '30s -40s. The serial number is how they date them.
Forums always have a ton of information, this is true, but it all needs to be vetted closely to find what is accurate…..it’s a tough job sometimes.
My mistake, it may be a 1940 because it does have an "A" in front of the serial number. Also the frame is made different.
No, that’s a common mistake. All of the old ones seem to have an A prefix. I touch on that in the video. There are thousands of people out there who mistakenly believe they have a 1940 Bay State.
Fortunately, if you do end up with a 2 1/2 “ chamber, you can shoot it with the shorty, 1 3/4” shells…
Great idea. Why didn’t I think of that? Perfect use for those.
Warshter? 😂
Cool old shotgun, brother.
I ordered a weirdly named beer in Boston once and got thrown out of the bar. No idea what Sam Adams nonsense I said wrong. I come from a place with Indian names and do just fine….who can pronounce these British places named by some cloth eared bint?!?
Just kidding Massachusetts, I love you. Please go out there and vote though, you need some help.
Friend of mine has a shotgun that looks a lot like that. Nothing on it sez H&R. Sez "Howes Hanson HardWare".
So many shotguns of different manufacturers look like this and follow the Davenport Patent......I think that particular store was in Pennsylvania. Thanks for tuning in!
I have a 12ga crescent arms in full choke. It looks very similar to yours. It patterns very good.
I have no doubt mine is patterning good, I just don’t know where!
@@MilsurpGarage Get a big piece of paper put on a board, and see where it patterns.
@@grassroot011Should do a video on that. My RANGE has a patterning board that you pay 15 bucks for. Maybe I’ll give it a try and do a video while doing it.
Pronounced “Woo-ster”.
Yeah, pissed off some Massachusetts people with that one.