Another Tobin Arms SxS sees the light of day!

ninepointer

ninepointer

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This Tobin Arms SxS just came out of an attic. Its a 12 gauge with 30" barrels, made in Woodstock, Ont., serial # 18,###. Sharptail's website http://www.members.shaw.ca/sharptail/Tobin.html shed some really interesting light on these fine guns. Can anyone tell me anything about this particular model? What was it called? When was it made? What might it be choked? Thanks:)

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Ninepointer - I've been doing some research on Tobin myself and have some articles ordered from the university library that might shed some light. I'll see if they are in today.

30" bbls screams "waterfowl" to me so I would guess F and F but anything could have been done to the gun in the last 90+ years.
 
MauserMike said:
Ninepointer - I've been doing some research on Tobin myself and have some articles ordered from the university library that might shed some light. I'll see if they are in today.

30" bbls screams "waterfowl" to me so I would guess F and F but anything could have been done to the gun in the last 90+ years.
Click to expand...

If you don't mind, please share whatever you learn:). I got this shotgun from the non-shooting son of the original owner. Nothing to indicate that anything has been altered.
 
You have the gun, Ninepointer - you have to tell us how it's choked.;) I don't remember, off the top of my head, if Tobin marked his chokes on the barrel flats. Could you post closeups of the barrel flats and the water table?

Sharptail is offline for a few days, but he'll be curious about the details when he hears another specimen has surfaced.

It's hard to tell from pictures sometimes, but it looks like it might still lock up tight? Have you checked the chambers for length?
 
Yep, I have a message into Sharptail, looking forward to any light he might be able to shine on this shotgun.

Its definately a 2 3/4 12 ga. with extractors.
Serial # is 18###.
No proof marks and no markings to indicate chokes. Just some patent info inside and a "26" on the bottom of the receiver (see pic).
Bores are bright like new, lock-up is tight and the wood/steel fit is perfect (in fact, I've never seen such precise wood/steel fit on any modern gun!)
The stock & forend have scratches but no cracks whatsoever.
 
Nothing on it saying what kind of steel the barrels are made of? Based on what I know, I'm going to guess its a model 20 standard, $30 list back in the day.

"Definitely" 2-3/4" chamber means you have taken a chamber cast? Before WWI, quite often chambers were 2-5/8" because the ammo was roll crimped, not star crimped like modern ammo. I don't have any info on Tobin's preference for chambers, but that certainly is the case for many other shotguns of that vintage like A.H. Fox and Parker.

As long as no fool has polished out the bores (look for signs of this), then it should be safe to shoot with low pressure loads. Best to get a good shotgunsmith to check it out to be sure.

I don't know where you are in Ontario, but I read that the building that housed the Tobin factory still exists as a shoe store in Woodstock (in 1997 article).
 
Tobin Grade 40

This shotgun is in very good condition considering the age. The #18### serial number indicates that it is of late manufacture. It is I believe a G.B.Crandall gun. It probably does not have the patent date nomemclature on the water table. This gun has absolutely no engraving therefore an "entry level" Tobin. earlier guns had a minimal of engraving. Perimeter engraving around the sidelock plates at least and that was a Grade #40. The next lowest grade was a Grade #25 but had external hammers. I have never seen one of these but would be interested in seeing a few examples.(photos).
S.N. 18976 to 19526 are Crandall guns and were manufactured after 1922 .
 
Tobin 40

Vol.34,No.3 Arms Collecting has an article by David J. Noreen with a lot of information.(August 1996). See also the Canadian Journal Arms Collecting Vol. 14, No. 1. In this issue is a reproduction of catalog 311. This catalogue repro is available from Cornel publication as Tobin Simplex Guns 1915, Woodstock, Ontario, Canada.
I have obtained a listing of all Tobins "registered " in Canada, and the list is broken down to all provinces. There are only 134 in the 19000 range and 216 in the 18000 range. Most Tobins are in Ontario (668) B.C. had 300.
In total 1523 but remember not all Tobins are in the system.
I have a Tobin that someone in B.C. has the matching S.N. So some S.N. are duplicated. ( In later production )
 
last time I looked in the phonebook in woodstock there was 1Tobin listed as a last name it would be interesting to build up enough nerve to call and see if it's the same family .I know they came up from the US in the late 1800's and made very good quality shootguns IIRC they were bought out in the 1930's the name then faded into history
 
I love seeing these Tobin threads. In my family, we own 4 Tobins, all 12 guage. My Dad's is in really poor condition, but it was his Grandfather's so its an heirloom. My Uncle and I have the base model Tobin but I have restored mine back a bit and it looks pretty nice. I had the forcing cones removed because it had that odd 2 5/8" chamber and I had it opened to Skt1/Skt2 (I know its a sin to some of you, but it was soooo tight) My Great-Grandfather shot 99 out of 100 live pigeons with a Tobin at a live pigeon shoot back in the day and my Uncle has the medal he won. Legend has it, he missed the 98th bird because of the auto-safety (gun now has it deactivated). My other uncle has a model with a dogs head engraved on the both locks...not sure of the model. I came across the below picture the other day on the net and I would LOVE to see an example like this in real life....
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Dilly, reading up on other guns with the short chamber, do you think its really worth doing that? I.e., slightly higher pressures with star crimped 2-3/4" shells vs thinning the barrel? (I don't think I would)
 
Personally, with easy to install conversion kits available for the mec 600 JR, and lots of data , I would not rechamber an old SXS like a nice Tobin, because what you are going to gain with a 2 3/4" gun is not going to amount to much.
Same as the chokes, you can get spreader style wads easy enough from BPI....
Cat
 
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