Just bought an old BP shotgun, need info

[tlmkr38]

I just bought an old muzzleloading shotgun today and was wanting some help finding more info on it. It is a double barrel that is marked Goddard (HRANTED) ? It has pheasants engraved on both sides on ground and flying. It still has matching hammers and screws.

The fit of the hardware isn't the greatest either but it seems tight but it's just and old gun and needs some cleaning. If anyone has any information on what this might be I would appreciate it. If needed I will post some pictures later when I get to my camera.

I plan on carrying it by Dixie Gun Works sometime next week and letting them check it and see if it is shootable. Probably not but you never know.

Thanks!

 

[pohill]

Check this out:
http://www.collectorebooks.com/gregg01/shotguns/Lot-1526.htm

And this:
Double Barrel, Percussion Cap Rifle. S A Goddard Co. appears to be manufacture I recently inherited a double barrel percussion cap rifle. Only marking that I can find are S A Goddard Co. , etched on the metal near the hammers. I know that it belonged to my Great Grandfather in 1870. I've searched the internet for information on S A Goddard Co. with no success. I am looking to determine about when the rifle was manufactured and where. Any information or resources someone could recommend, would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
Bruce- Samuel A. Goddard is noted as an importer of locks, made in his factory in England, in the 1858 New York City directly according to Frank Sellers' "American Gunsmiths." Robert Gardner's "Small Arms Makers" note that Samuel Aspinal Goddard operated in Birmingham, England, 1834-1856 and exhibited fowling pieces, muskets, and "California Protectors" pistols invented by Goddard at the International Exhibition in 1851. It is possible your gun was made in England, in which case it would have English proofmarks (two designs of crossed flags with several letters at the edges) on the barrels. It is also possible that it merely used Goddard marked locks with the remainder being made by some maker in America. The U.S. (apparently except for Massachusetts, even then intruding government's nose into every aspect of life) had no requirements for proofmarking of firearms, so they are generally unmarked unless a maker voluntarily decided to do so. It seems that a man's reputation and desire to do good work is sufficient motivation, and that a bunch of laws only creates incentives to find ways around them. John Spangler