Info on Great (great?) Grandfather's Marlin 16 Gauge

[5P1N35]

I inherited a Marlin 16GA pump shotgun. thumb action release button on the upper right side. hammer that pulls partially back for a safety. Serial # A19414 just in front of loading ramp. cartridges are side ejected. the engraving on the side says:

Marlin Firearms Co. New-Haven CT. U.S.A.
pat'd may 12, 1896. june 2, '96. oct 5, 1897. nov 27, 1900. Mar 29, 1904. nov 29, '04. aug 7, 1906. mar 24(?), 1908. may 19: '08

i would appreciate any information you can give me about this gun. My grandpa told me some about it, but I have amnesia from a car accident and have forgotten everything he had told me. My mother knew very little about the gun other than it was passed down to him from his father. i couldn't find any model number or any way of knowing anything about the gun outside of the last date in it's patent list. All of my attempted searches into the background haven't turned up much either.

Thanks,

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Spin35;

From your description, you have a Marlin Model 30 in 16 gauge, exposed hammer, pump action shotgun. It may be an early receiver that was not roll marked on the upper tang with the model number as most Model 30's are marked. The interesting thing is, with a A serial number prefix, your shotgun would have been made in about 1916, and the Model 30 was introduced by Marlin in 1911. A standard Model 30, A grade gun woulde have sold for $24.00 in 1916. There are no records for most of the Marlin shotguns, so there is not way of knowing how many were made and exactly when.
For now, tht is about all that can be said, I hope this helps.

[5P1N35]

that explains a lot. thanks for all of this info Regnier.

[5P1N35]

Something I forgot to mention that my mom had said that grandpa mentioned was that the gun is rare. There is one thing that I'm curious about, if I'm understanding what Regnier was saying. Early guns of a certain model would not have had the model number. However, the dates suggest it to be built as a later part of the series. Would anyone have ideas of possibilities why this inconsistency might show up with this gun?

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

5Pin35;

At the time your shotgun would have been made, around 1916, the Marlin Arms Corporation was assembling sporting firearms from any and all parts that were on hand at the time. The entire factory had been turned over to war work building machine guns for WW I, so in order to keep enployees busy at all times, sporting arms were built to fill in spare time when contracts were filled or parts were needed to build machine guns. So, if there was an early reciever, like yours which is not marked, and has the early style "hang fire safety release" button, high on the right side of the receiver was used to make a useable gun. About 1915, Marlin changed the "hangfire safety release safety" to a lever located down by the trigger guard and many of the later Model 30's have the later style release system. Your shotgun was something that was assembled from useable parts on hand at the time as a simple explaination to your question.
i hope this helps.

[5P1N35]

it does. i remember hearing about that, but hadn't realized the implications behind it towards my gun. thank you for helping me understand the history behind it. very interesting to know.