Springfield/J. Stevens Arms

[WayBeau]

So I decided that I needed to catalog my firearms for insurance reasons (it was LONG overdue). Most of my guns are older shotguns that have been handed down to me by my grandfather. My cataloging was simple: type, make, model, caliber/gauge, and serial number.

I knew that I had a couple of Parker Bros., a Gustafs M96, and a Fox Sterlingworth. I was surprised to find a Springfield/J. Stevens Arms 16 gauge in the lot. I was aware of the gun, so it wasn't a surprise that I had it, the surprise was that it was a Springfield. The even bigger surprise came when I tried to find a serial number on it. The closest thing to a serial number that I was able to find was a number one in a circle followed by the letters 'O P'.

Does this make any sense to anyone? I'm at a total loss since it seems like the serial number should be a more substantial sequence of digits.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Ron James]

Serial numbers were not required on long arms until 1968. Some manufactures used serial numbers on all of their firearms for management control, others only on their mainstream firearms and not for their budget guns, and a few, not at all.

 

[WayBeau]

thanks for the info.