POTD: Union Fire Arms Model 24 – Toledo’s Two-Trigger Pump
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a slide action shotgun from a company most people have never heard of. This is a factory engraved Union Fire Arms Model 24 in 12 gauge, built in Toledo, Ohio, in the early 1900s.
The backstory starts with Sears. Sears wanted its own cheap pump gun and went after the Spencer design, hoping to buy it from Bannerman and ship the tooling to Colton Manufacturing in Toledo, which already made guns for Sears. That deal fell through, Colton reorganized as Union Fire Arms, and the Model 24 was the result. Sears listed it for $14.92 in its 1903 catalog, with a Damascus barrel adding about two bucks. Under the hood you’ll find ideas lifted from Spencer, Marlin, and Winchester pumps.
The oddball feature is the trigger setup, because there are two. Pull the front one to cock or let down the internal firing pin, and the back one sets it off. Unfortunately, the early guns had a nasty habit. On the extraction stroke, the slide came so far back over the stock that it could whack your thumb knuckle. Around 1907 Union cut the slide down and put a steel plate over part of the opening. They later redesigned the whole gun as the Model 50 and dropped the front trigger, and the company was bought out not long after.
A high grade Model 24 with engraving and a Damascus barrel isn’t something you trip over often. Personally, I think anyone who busted a knuckle on one of these earned a little respect.
Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!
“Factory Engraved Union Fire Arms Model 24B Slide Action Shotgun.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4097/1453/factory-engraved-union-fire-arms-model-24b-slide-action-shotgun. Accessed 29 Sept. 2026.
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