snakecharmer and colt question

jpryorx2

i was wondering if anyone can give me a history on a couple of guns the first is a snakecharmer 410 shotgun made by h * inc. of dallas texas the other is a colt ace service model .22 i was wondering what this gun is worth it looks like it is built on a 1911 frame and has never been shot or even if someone can tell me how to find out what year it was made thanks jason

RancheroPaul

Can't help with the shotgun, but the Colt is easy to determine when made. Simply send me the serial number and I will check my reference material and let you know. You can e-mail me at: padams@aros.net

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If You Can't Buy a Pair, Get a Spare!

nord

Snake Charmer has a trade name. It was made by one of the larger manufacturers... H&A, Crescent, Stevens, or ???.If the .410 has a barrel length of less than 18" this gun is illegal and cannot be made legal. Penalties for having this little gem are much more than any of us would want to pay... $10,000 plus time in a federal facility of their choice. If legal, the gun will carry fairly low value. Perhaps $50.00 to a motivated buyer.

JudgeColt

As I recall, the Snake Charmer is a stainless steel single shot .410 with a stock designed to hold several shells. If memory serves, it will fold. These were inexpensive when made, and I think they are still in production by a different company than originally made them.Colt Service Model Aces were made Pre-War (with seral numbers running through about SM13,800) and were reintrodueced in 1978 with serial numbers beginning with SM14,001 (maybe SM14,000, not sure). The Post-War were discontinued again in 1982, after about 30,000 were made. Even Post-War SMs are becoming quite collectable and pricey these days. If you post the serial number, the approximate year of manufacture can be determined. The Service Model Ace uses the "Carbine" Williams-designed "floating chamber" to generate extra recoil impulse to operate a standard size and weight slide, whereas the Ace used an extensively lightened and slightly shorter slide designed to operate with .22LR ammunition.

Myjack

I used to night fish on the Blackwater river in Florida and we used a .410 Snake Charmer to keep snakes out of the boat - seems when them snakes see a light they tend to go towards it and will get in the boat.Anyway that gun got used alot - seldom maintained and worked like a champ. can't remeber exactly but the barrel was 18+ inches - I think 18-1/2 maybe 1/4. Single shot break action with a short, semi-stock that had a compartment for a few spare shells.Wouldn't mind having another one to keep in the truck, but a string on this forun,a few days ago brought up the defence use of a gun and reloading the weapon and subsequint leagl implacations was indeed an eye opener.Hope this helpsMyjack

jpryorx2

well i guess i got lucky my barrel length is 18 and 1/8 inches mine doesn't have the orignal stock because it was broke when my grampa got it so we made a solid oak replacment of the same style.now on to the colt the serial number is sm27373 and it is the service model ace thanks jason

JudgeColt

The serial number charts in "The Colt Heritage" stop in 1978, the year the book was published. The charts show the "new" SM as starting at SM14001. (I did not check before. Sorry.) I know of no charts that go beyond that. A factory letter would cost $100, but might add that much in value to your pistol. I would guess at 1980-1981 for your pistol's production year, but do not know whether production tended to be bunched up early, middle or late in the four-year run. I seem to recall a slug of them early so yours may be 1979-1980.I ignored all the barrel length discussion of the Snake Charmber because I knew the barrels to be of legal length originally. I guess some must think illegal guns were made and sold under that name. Maybe the name just implies a handgun to some. A short-barrel shotgun would be a NFA firearm and would require a federal $200 transfer fee, and would still be illegal in many states. That would tend to limit the market for $75 shotguns a bit. As far as I know, no Snake Charmer was ever made in an illegal barrel length, which for a shotgun is less than 18-inches from breech face to barrel end. Of course, someone with a hacksaw may have created a SBS without knowing it was illegal to do so. That is a good area to verify when buying used rifles and shotguns. I was at an auction one time when a double barrel with about 15-inch barrels was held up by the auctioneer! Sometimes ignorance is bliss, sometimes not!