shotgun history

Question
I have just came into possession of a 12 gauge shotgun. It was made by Companhia brasiliera de cartuchos. S.Andre est. s. paulo. it is 12 gauge-2 3/4 in. ss# 252516 model SB. Any info you have age, history, etc. would be great.  if not you, where? mike

Answer
Hello Mike.

Your gun was made by CBC in Brazil. CBC started in 1926 and made products for Remington and ICI from 1936 to 1979. It was also affiliated with Magtech and is now privately owned.

Older CBC shotguns have a reputation as being very inexpensive models with only basic features and minimal value. Assuming that your gun is in good safe working condition then the value would only be as a shooter. If it is in questionable condition or is very old then it may not be safe to fire so it may only have sentimental value. To be sure then you would need to have it examined by a gunsmith.

Unfortunately the serial number records are not publicly available for CBC shotguns so there is no way to know the exact age or history of your gun. The following links will provide a bit more information:

CBC Company History:
http://www.epicos.com/epicos/extended/brazil/Cbc/cbc_home.html

Current CBC Firearms:
http://www.cbc.com.br/armas/index.php?acao3_cod0=6b33dd906dc4be8d1b39c65c35152ab...

Generic search link for CBC Model SB:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cbc+model+sb

If you are really serious about finding the exact age of your gun then you might try contacting CBC directly to see if they still have any of the older production records on file. They are a Brazilian company so you might have a bit of trouble here unless you speak Portuguese or you can find someone there that speaks English.

As an alternative to calling them, you could use the following site to write a letter and have it translated for free, then send it to them via mail, fax, or email:

http://translate.google.com/

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Bob