Leader 20ga. Side by side. New pictures! Value?

THe serial# is 1245. Age? Shoot modern ammo? Value? Thanks.

hello ,,i'd say the value is somewhere in the 300-800,,as for modern ammo ,,thats something i couldn't or want to recommend shooting modern shotshells in it ,,especially if it's a damascus twist barrel,,have a gunsmith check it out before you shoot it!!as for the age i'd say somewhere between 1878-1890's,,but thats a guess ,,my refrences don't list a "leader" with exposed hammers ,,the baker listed with exposed hammers is listed as The New Baker but that was after 1889,, William and Elias Baker made shotguns starting in 1878 ,,during this time lc and lyman smith financed the new company,,around 1880 lc smith bought the intrest from the baker bros and financed a new company WH baker & company and continued production with the markings lc smith maker of the baker gun on the rib,,this continued untill 1888 when the company was sold to the hunter bros.. when the name was changed to Baker Gun+forging co.at this time they started making The New Baker model shotgun and this is the only model they made with exposed hammers,,before this change the records and model names are not listed and the values are a general price range,,
bigcurt

Thanks for the info. I was wondering if you saw the picture of the gun? I posted it right after this post. It's a good looking gun and it would be fun to shoot.....if it were safe and chambered a 2 3/4 in. shell. Considering the age you suggest I don't think they made a shell of that length back then. Wizeguy

that i couldn't say for sure but alot of the cowboy shooter use the old shotguns for the authenic appearance and i do beleive that you can get black powder reduced loads for the old guns ,,i'd still have somebody check it out first ,,better to be safe than sorry..especially with such a nice old double,,
bigcurt