Renegade Barrel Marking

[ldykeman]

I read on another forum that the "W" stamp on the underside of early T/C barrels means they were made by Douglas. I have two older Renegade .50s and both have what looks more like an "M" than a "W" on the underside. The two sides of the letter are vertical, not spread, like you would usually see on a "W". Anyone (Roundball?) know what the different barrel stamps mean?
Thanks,
Larry

 

[roundball]

I read on another forum that the "W" stamp on the underside of early T/C barrels means they were made by Douglas. I have two older Renegade .50s and both have what looks more like an "M" than a "W" on the underside. The two sides of the letter are vertical, not spread, like you would usually see on a "W". Anyone (Roundball?) know what the different barrel stamps mean?
Thanks,
Larry

Larry, TC told me that is a "proof mark" that is applied at a certain point in the barrel manufacturing process that indicates all the major basic build steps have been completed to that point and tested OK.

Said they use that to determine how to deal with barrels that get rejected from steps further down the line so they know where to re-enter it into the manufacturing process...ie: when they see the proof mark it tells them that they at least don't have go further back in the line than the point at which the proof mark is applied. (hope that was clear)

 

[ldykeman]

Thanks! It was very clear. I wonder how these legends get started. Gee, I was hoping it was a "M"atch grade barrel!
Larry

 

[roundball]

Thanks! It was very clear. I wonder how these legends get started.

The Internet is an excellent engine for things to get propagated...whether they're right or wrong.

One post may be read by hundreds of people...several of them repost what they've seen on several other message boards...then hundreds more people read those new posts and it's all over the world in a matter of days/weeks, spreading like wildfire.

IMO, mis-information is so bad that on technical type matters I just take it with a grain of salt and just assume what I'm reading is probably not correct...and in situations of interest to me I try to find the official source and directly ask them so that I know the answer first hand.

As in the case of the barrel stamp, I had seen that question asked last year, called TC myself and got what I posted to you directly from TC...and is also why I included TC as the reference in my response.

 

[RedFeather]

Someone has an early T/C Hawken on one of the auction sites and he's claiming it to be a Douglas barrel. Who knows? I've also seen some references here to suggest that the very early guns weren't known for accuracy, Douglas or no, so that may not be the big hallmark it would suggest.