Fibiger Arms Co. Model #1

[GAMALOT]

Febiger Arms Co. Model #1

I posted this in the gunsmithing section but it should have been here.

My buddies dad left him and old .22 short rifle I need info on and possible parts source.

On the gun: Febiger Arms Co. Neworleans LA.
Pat'd Jan. 5th '09
.22 Cal. Short CTG.
Model # 1
SN # 51

It is an interesting little rifle that appears to shoot either PUMP action or Semi Auto by depressing a button on the forend stock.
There is a slot for a clip magazine which is missing and I would love to find one for it.

Any info or parts sources will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you. Gary ([email protected])

 

[Jim K]

My sources show nothing on either that name pertaining to guns or on a rifle that operates as either a lever action or as a semi-auto by pushing a button.

I suggest that if you are in the vicinity of New Orleans, you might use the public libraries to search city directories for the early 20th century for some information on the companny. It is possible that they were not a manufacturer, since many of the larger hardware stores and chains had guns made with their name. Another possibility is search of patent office records (some can be done on the web) for that date, since no patent number is given.

I think it extremely unlikely that you will find any parts for that gun, but you might try gun shows in your area for a magazine that will fit or can be modified to do so.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Jim

 

[GAMALOT]

Febiger Arms

Jim, Thank you for the info.

I did some research before I made this post and just don't know what it all means or how to link it to this gun.

Henry B. Febiger of Philadelphia, PA. patented firearms on 8/15/1905 & 1/9/1908. He also patented a movement for firearms in New Orleans LA.
on 12/14/1908
I also found that a fellow named D. W. Tomlinson Jr. of Batavia, NY patented a triger movement for a self loading firearm on 12/28/1908 and this patent was assigned to Henry B. Febiger of New Orleans La.

This info was found in a book by Col. Robert E. Gardner titled Small Arms Makers and published by Crown Publishers, NY 1963.

What it all means is beyond my scope of understanding and basically tells me very little about the gun I am holding.
I find it to be rather interesting because of the dual purpose action mechanism. I have never seen one before but apparently it works like a PUMP action, Ie. one shot for each cock of the slide. If you depress the button on the side of the forend it goes into semi auto and bypasses the pump completely. Since we do not have the magazine I have not attempted to see how it works but I am interested in learning what I can about this interesting little rifle.
I suspect there were quite a few OFF BRAND guns made with numerous action types but I have never seen one anything like this.
Hopefully someone out here will read our discussion and have some info or knowledge about this gun. There are at least 50 others out there somewhere as this one is #51
I will take some good photos and see if I can get them on if anyone want to see them. I will also take a closer look to see if I can find a patent number.
Thanks for trying to guide me and maybe some of the info I have could help with identification.

 

[GAMALOT]

More Info

Boy was I off here.

Fibiger is actually FEBIGER ARMS CO.

The gun is a Pump Action that goes SEMI when the button is depressed.

I have to attribute this to a long day of hunting followed by a couple of Adult beverages and a show and tell of my buddies gun cabinet.

Certainly not a bad day but it was a bit cloudy when I made the post.

Febiger Arms Co. Model #1, SN # 51 PUMP & SEMI, 22 CAL. Short. Pat. Jan. 5th '09.

I found some interesting info at an auction site.

www.gmartin-auctions.com . Click on "On line Catalog", Scroll down to Feb. 3, 2003 and then to Lot # 316. You may have to click the box " Already gave Email".

I guess this gun has been around a while and since the one at auction is # 1441, there must be a few around.

Please forgive my mistakes and if anyone can provide info now that I have the correct spelling and action type, please let me know.

Someone else mentioned a Savage model 1903 has the same or similar clip but was not certain.
Someone also mentioned this gun was in the April 1990 issue of American Rifleman which I do not have and can not confirm.
Thank you again. Gary

 

[Ross]

Interestingly similar to the description of the Standard Arms combination pump and semi-auto center fire rifles found in the Numrich/Gun Parts catalog.
Cheers from Darkest California,
Ross

 

[Jim K]

Hi, GAMALOT and guys,

I have a Standard Model G and thought of them also, but AFAIK, they never made anything in rimfire.

GAMALOT, you have located far more info than I have. I gave up on Google with just the name because of the Lea and Febiger publishing company which has thousands of listings.

I did do a Google search on "Febiger Arms Co." and found a couple of sites with gun info, including reference to an American Rifleman article. The auction site www.appletreeauctions.com has a "parts gun" for $10.

Jim

 

[don a]

My name is Don A. and I too have been looking for info on this rifle for 5 years. I just now was registered for this site and found people talking about this very subject. I will get my gun out and write down all the info on it and see if it is the same one. I also need the clip that goes in the bottom of the gun. I have shot as a single shot before and it is surprisingly accruate.

 

[GAMALOT]

Hi Don and welcome aboard!

Surprisingly there is very little info about our guns out here.
What you have already read in the threads is about all I have found.
Henry B. Febiger made the guns in New Orleans and he was in some way associated with a guy in Batavia, NY named Baker (Batavia Arms).
Baker also made a similar gun, so I am told but I have never seen one.
I have searched at gun shows to locate a clip and all I do know is the early Savage clips are almost a fit but most are for .22 Short & Long rifle and therefore will not fit. My gun is a .22 Short only.
I suspect there are some clips out there that will fit if you can locate them.
My experience tells me the clips may not be marked with a makers name and will most likely be in a box with other unknown clips. Quite often the guns became seperated from the clips along the way and some collector ended up with a box-lot of old clips he has no idea what they fit.
I guess you will have to do as I do, bring the gun to local gun shows, ask the dealers if they have a box containing old clips and search the lot. You might get lucky.
Post the info on your gun and we might keep this thread running a while.
My experience with HR is there is a wealth of info and some very knowledgable individuals right here if we can peek their interest and get them to chime in. Someone knows alot about these fine little guns and we just need to locate him.
Good luck and I will keep looking for your post and the clips. If you ever do locate any, keep me in mind and I will keep your info. Since the gun is more a collectable and less of a shooter at this point, I have a need for just one clip.
Thanks. Gary
PS. The correct spelling is FEBIGER NOT FIBEGER as I had posted :-(

 

[45Broomhandle]

Addition to an OLD OLD thread. Here's a beautiful Febiger just received today from an out of state auction back in December. Has anyone found any more historical info on them over the past 2222 days since last posting?



Look forward to any info you may have found.

Cannot find any "button on forestock" and this gun only has the caliber stamped into top of barrel AND serial number 6785 stamped INSIDE on the right side of the receiver. NO other stampings.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ 45Broomhandle

 

[Jim K]

That magazine looks a lot like a Savage Model 1903 and in fact the whole gun looks like that old pump except for the shape of the top rear of the receiver. Now, I wonder if anyone has both guns and could compare them. Did Febiger have his rifles made by Savage? Or did he make a modified version of the Savage? IMHO, the similarities are just too much to be coincidence.

Jim