Sears 300 20 ga, not a Ted Williams?

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DeadFlies

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664093C9-B79A-4ED7-B15C-1A34B9CD8D53.jpeg Hi all. I recently picked up a nice Sears 300 20ga, 2 3/4", 28" plain barrel with a fixed, full choke, single bead sight, and no checkering. Barrel code is CF and the SN is Q79xxx, on the left side of the receiver. It does not say "Ted Williams" on it anywhere.

Were all of the Sears guns Ted Williams models, even if they are not marked as such? Is there a difference between a TW model and a plain Sears model? Also, if anybody could provide an approximate year of manufacture, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!
 
Sears guns often featured the Ted Williams endorsement but it was far from universal. J.C. Higgins was another trademark that appeared on Sears marketed guns. Sears made no guns, rather marketed guns made for them by just about everybody including Winchester, High Standard, Mossberg, Marlin, AYA, Laurona,and many others. Most seemed a little "cheaper" than when sold by their makers.
 
PapaG

I can still remember going to Sears when I was a kid and they had rifles and shotguns laying vertically on shelving units, right out on the sales floor in the Sporting Goods department. They were wired to the back of the shelf but you could still pick them up and handle them. Still seemed kind of a strange way to display the guns but at the time I enjoyed being able to see them up close and personal like that.

Of course the guns, as well as the Sears store itself, are long gone.
 
View attachment 883926 Hi all. I recently picked up a nice Sears 300 20ga, 2 3/4", 28" plain barrel with a fixed, full choke, single bead sight, and no checkering. Barrel code is CF and the SN is Q79xxx, on the left side of the receiver. It does not say "Ted Williams" on it anywhere.

Were all of the Sears guns Ted Williams models, even if they are not marked as such? Is there a difference between a TW model and a plain Sears model? Also, if anybody could provide an approximate year of manufacture, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!
The Ted Williams name was used in the later part of Sears selling guns. Before that they used the name J.C. Higgins for many years until 1962. The 300 was a Winchester 1400 in Sears clothing. Sears guns were usually similar to the manufacturer's regular guns, but sometimes they would have plainer wood or simpler sights. Other times they were exactly the same gun. I have a Voere 22 that still has the Voere factory markings, with a tiny Ted Williams name and Sears part number stamped on the barrel as an afterthought. There's a good conversion chart here.
 
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