What is this shotgun accessory?

[oldjeeps]

Found an old "Columbia" 12 gauge single shot that had this attached to it's left side. Was wondering what anyone might know about it - it appears to be a 'reloader / autoloader' of some sort.
This appears to be made of stamped steel and I know 30+ years old.
Markings: "ALOFS MFG. CO", "G.R. MICH. PAT 99-24"
It currently has some surface rust and a bad "control" spring but seems to be generally functional.

 

[Vaarok]

I'll be damned, sure looks like a quickloader. There were similar inventions for single-shot rifles in the late 1870s, like the Martini-Henry, but I've never seen something like it for a modern shotgun.

Kewl!

 

[Jim Watson]

Agreed, a speedloader to "automate" a single shot shotgun.

 

[BADUNAME7]

A link to the patent explaining it's function.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=M55YAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=1507881

 

[oldjeeps]

Thanks for the link. That was very informative.

Definitely think that I am going to have to have that setup brought back into working order. Can't say that I really want to spend much on the "columbia" (as I haven't heard much good about them), but between the quickloader and sentimental reasons it looks like it's on its way to the gunsmith.

Anyone want to hazard a guess on value (not that it'll be up for sale at any point in the next 50 years)?

 

[The_Antibubba]

If the design is authentic for the late 19th century, "new" ones would be a hit with the SASS crowd and reenactors.

 

[Vaarok]

Novelty value alone, you could probably get several hundred dollars for it, I can't imagine they're common or that many have survived.

 

[oldjeeps]

As stated, I won't be selling it. But also don't really want to invest too much more than the setup is worth (at the gunsmiths).

The_Antibubba: IIRC the date on the patent that John posted was in the 20s.