N.R. Davis & Sons Information and Links

From http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=59:
"N.R. Davis and Co., Assonet, Freetown, Me. circa 1853-1917 made hammer and good quality hammerless shotguns selling for $65 in 1887 and marked "Rival". Also made guns under Sears, Roebuck brand names. In 1917 they merged with Warner Arms Co. changing their name to Davis-Warner Arms, they became inactive about 1921. In 1930 they merged again with Crescent Arms Co. becomming Crescent-Davis Arms Co. They were again purchased by J. Stevens Arms Co. in 1932. Stevens was absorbed by Savage Arms Co. of Westfield Mass. in 1936."

From http://armscollectors.com/ph/read.php?f=20&i=610&t=548:
"The company started in 1889 or a few years before as a private builder. Built shotguns untill 1917 when they merged with Warner guns and became davis warner firearms. Davis and sons HAVE AN EXCELENT repotation. As far as value I have seen a hammerless in very bad condition only a wall hanger for $100.00."

From http://oldguns.net/cgi-bin/f2f/f2f.pl?http://oldguns.net/q&a10_96.htm:
Nathan R. Davis of Freetown Mass was granted 5 patents on gun related inventions between 1868 and 1886. He started the N.R. Davis & Co. gun making firm in Assonet, Mass in 1853, This merged with Warner Arms CO about 1917, went inactive 1`920-22, then was revived about 1930 as part of the Crescent-Davis Arms corp., which in turn was absorbed by Stevens about 1932. I am guessing that your shotgun is one of the earlier ones which would have been marked N.R. Davis, and probably has external hammers. It could be either a muzzle loader or breech loader, depending on when it was made. All the companies Davis was later affiliates with made inexpensive shotguns to be mass marketed. Crescent alone made them under dozens of different brand names. the Davis name may or may not have been used on guns after 1917 when they got into mergers. Probably very little collector value to your gun, but as a family keepsake, you cannot replace it.

From http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=8k1biq%24gg9%241%40xring.cs.umd.edu:
"N.R. Davis & Sons of Freetown and Assonet, MA was in business from 1853-1919. In 1917 Davis & Sons purchased Warner Arms Co. and created the Davis-Warner Arms Co.  located in Norwich, CT. They went out of business in 1930. The parts and proprietary rights to the name were purchased by Crescent Arms Co. and assembled shotguns under the Davis-Warner name, until Crescent was acquired by Stevens Arms Co. in 1932."

Your gun could have been made anytime between 1917 and 1930. The 1998 Standard Catalog of Firearms lists values of $100 (poor condition) to $300-400 (excellent condition) for Davis-Warner shotguns. Davis-Warner made some premium grade shotguns that could bring $750 in excellent condition. Since your shotgun was found in the garage I would suspect you would be looking at the lower end of the range.

From http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22N.R.+Davis+%26+Sons%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=6rb3se%24bfr%40xring.cs.umd.edu&rnum=2:

# I have purchased recently an old (turn of the century?) s&s shotgun
# manufactured by N.R. Davis & Sons.
# I've tried to find some info about the company, but so far
# unsuccessfully. Has anyone heard, or been familiar with the
# manufacturer? I would appreciate any info about the company.
#
# Thanks in advance,
# virtuoso.
#

N.R. Davis & Sons, Freetown & Assonet Massachusetts

"Manufacturers of percussion, and later, cartridge shotguns from 1853 to 1919.  The cartridge shotguns embodied Natahn R. Davis' patented improvements of 1879, 1884, and 1886.  Though only made in plain, serviceable grades, Davis shotguns were extremely well made and lived up to the companys motto: "As Good as the Best"

1998 Standard Catalog of Firearms, 8th Edition.  By Ned Schwing

It looks like you can order parts for these guns from here:
http://www.e-gunparts.com/products.asp?chrMasterModel=1820zPREMIER%20HAMMERLESS&MC=