Not a truck gun

This is a 10 gauge lever action shotgun made by Winchester. Model 1901, mfgd in 1905. My father in law (95years old) got it from his father and then it sat in his closet for over 60 years. A couple years ago, he gave it to me along with several other old rifles. I put them up on my wall. I finally took it to a gunsmith to make sure it was ok to shoot and it is good to go. During the inspection, the gunsmith took it all apart and found a California Hunting and a California Anglers license under the butt plate. Dated 1916. Internet says person was born 1882 and died 1952 buried in Glendale California. The Anglers license was torn, but, hunting license was ok. I have found a guy that will load the correct ammo for this shotgun, but, might be a few months before I can get it.

 

Neet

 

That old license is cool as hell!

 

meefZah, took a little work to get it to lay flat because it was rolled up inside the stock of the shotgun. Had to put it in a tub of water suspended above the water until it sucked up enough moisture to straighten it out. I googled his name for possible relatives, but, so far have not found any. My father in law does not recognize the name on the license.

 

Very interesting history.

 

A nice piece of history.

 

That's very cool!

Am I the only one who's impressed by the penmanship on the license?

 

Very cool story!

 

Can you spell the name for us? I can’t make it out from the photo.

 

That's really neat! Just for grins, I looked up what $1.00 (the cost of the license) in 1916 would be today. $27.60.

Nice story on these pieces of history.

 

You can order 10gauge ammo off the internet, no?

 

That's what I was thinking but it looks like those older ones use a 2 7/8" cartridge. Not so common and OP might live in a restricted state.

 

Probably used black powder loads which do not create near the pressure that modern powder loads will. Be cautious until you verify what loads it can handle. Don't want to blow it up.

 

The name appears to be Ed Kolbenstetter. He was a farmer living in Stratford, Kings County, California. I found his voting information and it appears that he married Carrie Thomson in 1911 although on Find a Grave they give his first wife a different name. I have not done extensive research but it appears that they may have left that area as nothing else quickly came up.

Also note his first wife's obituary (see below) which lists her daughter, Gertrude Edwina Chatburn. That might be a lead....

I'm including a couple of screenshots and what I am almost certain is his Find a Grave link.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85444313/edward-george-kolbenstetter

 

OP you probably saw this but some relatives mentioned.
https://peoplelegacy.com/edward_george_kolbenstetter-1r3Y5E

 

You mean today it should be $27.60, but Kalifornia never misses a chance to gouge so they now charge $54, just be make doubly (pun intended) sure they keep up with inflation.

 

That appears to be info taken directly from Find a Grave

 

I had one come through the pawn shop. And I’m watching T2 on DVD!

 

Wow, you guys are good with your searches. 10 gauge ammo can be ordered from the internet, but, the company said they don’t run it very often. This shotgun uses a 2 and 7/8 shell which is pretty rare. This company also charges almost $5 for each round. So, I contacted a guy who loads his own and I’ll order the supplies shipped to his house and he will load them for me. I can get 50 shells for about $100, which is still expensive. There is a YouTube video of a guy shooting one of these old lever action 10 gauge shotguns and it’s pretty cool. Jwheeler337

 

Name on the license is Ed Kolbensetter.

 

It appears to be Kolbenstetter with a "T" after the "S" -- see uploaded documents as well.

 

My wife and I are traveling ( 700 plus miles) to California today to visit her .95 year old dad. I’ll ask him what he remembers about this shotgun. It’s been in my wife’s family for over 75 years.
Made it to Ca. My father in law doesn’t recognize the names, but, he does remember his grandfather and Uncle lived in that area.

 

Hotelmedicis, you are right. It’s Kolbenstetter.

 

Interesting shotgun and history! Thanks for sharing.