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The estate sale was April 3 in rural ND. I submitted a not to exeed bid of $950 by email. The auctioneer emailed back after the sale to let me know that I bought it for $600.

I picked up the gun at my dealer's shop yesterday afternoon. It is "sweet." It is definitely a "shooter" with quite a few indentations and handling marks on the wood and some scratches and a few small rust spots on the 28" barrels. There appears to be a small rust spot or pit in the lower barrel a few inches in front of chamber. Otherwise, the bores are bright and shiny. The upper lever arm spring is either broken or just very weak. However, the gun locks up tight.

The single trigger looks like a regular model 90 rear trigger (positioned back near the trigger guard) but it is on the side where the front trigger is normally positioned. There is a spring and thin metal piece next to the trigger on the side where the rear trigger normally would be. I assume it was a DT converted to ST.

The very unusual and very special wood used for the stock and forearm, the pre-WWII checkering pattern, and the fact that all of the serial numbers match, including the "S," suggest that this gun may actually be a modified Skeetking. It also has an ivory bead front sight per Brophy's description of the SK. None of my five other model 90's have the letter prefix stamped with the serial number on the forearm and barrels. The engraving is aftermarket but very nice.

I think this gun is extra special because a daughter and a grandson of the original owner independently told me that Ole Horsrud, Fox Grove, IL, (who was the inventor of the Marlin Model 90), "made" the gun and "gave" it to Alf Altern (the initials AA on the trigger guard) who had been a successful dentist in Chicago. According to the family members, Alf and Ole were good friends and hunting buddies who often hunted together near Spooner, WI.

Overall, I am very pleased with the gun. I hope to shoot it later this week.

Great story. It answers some of your questions and opens more. I know everyone will want to see pictures. Congratulations.

Milton

I'd be happy to share some photos, but I do not know how to post them. I can email them if I have an email address.

pm sent.

Photos:

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Joined: 19 Feb 2008 Posts: 443

Sweet! That puts ol' #1591 to shame.

sv

mdm1,

Thanks for posting the photos of this "special" gun for me. As one can see, it has nice wood and engraving. I can also tell you that it has a lot of "character." However, it is the gun's history that makes it so interesting to me and why I decided to bid on it.

I talked to one of the original owner's daughters, now in in her 50's, for nearly an hour. I also corresponded with the original owner's grandson by email who told me about cleaning the gun for his grandfather. He also shared information that he got from his mother, another daughter of the original owner.

The family has no formal, written documentation to prove the origin of the gun. However, both daughters' stories were the same. One of them decribed Ole Horsrud as a gunsmith "who did repairs for Sears." Based on their personal anecdotes about playing with Ole Horsrud's daughters on the Fox River, etc, etc., I have no reason to doubt their stories that Ole Horsrud gave the gun to their dad, Alf Altern, the dentist from Chicago.

On page 412, Brophy, in his book, "Marlin Firearms and the Company that Made Them," identifies Ole Horsrud, Fox Grove, IL, as the inventor of the gun sold by Sears as the Ranger and by Marlin as the model 90. Ole's Patent No. 2,376,358, dated May 22, 1945 (filed July 4, 1939) was assigned to the Sears Co.

Steve,

What is # 1591?

Charles Hammack,

I'd like to know your impression of this gun after seeing the pictures.

I am in AWE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I only wish it were mine ........

Regards Charles