My Daisy No#25 mystery was resolved with this very informative reply from the Daisy Musuem curator in Rogers Arkansas. I hope to visit this museum this year and hopefully meet and thank Joe for his timely reply and insight.
Hi Bill
Register Numbers didn't appear on Daisy guns until 1952, so we have to
rely on combinations of features to date the older guns. Gary Garber
does an outstanding job in his book "An Encyclopedia of Daisy Plymouth
Guns".
The five patent numbers appeared in 1930 but unfortunately continued to
appear on the guns into the 50s so that doesn't help us much.
The 6 grooves on the pump grip were a 1930 change. So, on a wood gun,
that narrows it to 1930 to 1952.
The pistol grip shape of the stock occurred first in 1933.
The welded claw was a 1933 change.
The engraving (originally gold-tone-filled) was added in 1936.
So, now we have narrowed the production dates to 1936 to 1952.
The key to narrowing this down any further is the style of weld on the
claw anchor. Pre WWII, 1933 to 1942, there were four circular welds -
two on each side. *****Post war, 1945 to 1952, there were two oblong welds -
one of each side.**** This puts my #25 45-1952****
So, if you'll take a look at those welds, we'll know if it's a pre- or
post-war gun. Regardless, as far as value is concerned, the "Blue Book
of Airguns" refers to it as a Variant 7 and calls it a "1936 style"
because that is the first year these combinations of features existed.
The values, in the following percentages of condition and originality, are:
20% $70 40% $105 60% $160 80% $205 90% $245 95% $300
100% $350
Joe C. Murfin
Daisy Airgun Museum