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Garcia Corp barrel stamp

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mcgrif2243

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Hey All,
I recall a thread here regarding different Garcia import stamps. I think I found the time-line on the two. My pre-72 Garcia's and my one Model 72 all have, "Garcia Sporting Arms Corp., Wash D.C.." On Gunbroker there is a model 74 Super Sporter with the SN 5XX,XXX. Photo of underside of the barrel shows, "The Garcia Corp, Wash, D.C." To check it out it is auction #156042010. I'm guessing the Garcia Corp stamp came out with the Model 74 and onward.
Regards, Will
 
Will,
Probably a reasonable guesstimate. Maybe some of the paperwork we are accumulating will shed more light on this. It would be interesting to know why they would change in the first place. Maybe to match the fishing reels. :wink2:
S-A
 
Hey S-A,
Just keep the jabs coming! You'll all be singing a different tune when I figure that all out. Might be 20 years from now but just you wait. (That is, if you are actually still around then :angel2:
Regards, Will
 
Will,
REEL funny :bigsmile3: If I am still around, I'll give my cane (a mannlicher) to you with a gold star! How's that whipper-snapper? You need to go back to work. You have too much time and money :wink2:
S-A
 
Dunno Will, My 606xx Finnbear is etched 'Garcia Corp'. I bought it new and am pretty certain it was produced mid-late 71. Maybe they used the different etchings interchangably for a while? Dick
 
Hey Dick,
You sure it isn't, "Garcia Sporting Arms Corp"? 5 of my finnbears are pre-72 Garcia's made in 1971 and all have the Garcia Sporting Arms Corp. stamp. The only ones I have seen with just "Garcia Corp" are model 74 Super Sporters.
Regards, Will
 
This is a great subject and piques my curiosity. The fate of the World hardly hangs on it, but I think it is worth pursuing.

I'll soon be posting all of the import marks with serial numbers (as well as characteristics like two/three-lug bolt and swivel types) for my Garcia guns and those of a friend. If everyone will do the same, maybe we can come up with something definitive about the Garcia import mark. "Enquiring Minds Want to Know"

I do know that Garcia Sporting Arms was initially a division (subsidiary?) of The Garcia Corporation in that Mr. Timmerman was the president of GSA, but reported to higher-ups in "the corporation". One possibility is that the GSA division was folded into the larger "corporation" at some point instead of remaining a free-standing subsidiary. Perhaps it became a legal issue with Treasury in that if "Garcia Sporting Arms" was only a DBA, then the import stamp would have to show the name of the "real importer", i.e. The Garcia Corporation. Just speculation here on my part.

By the way, apparently Garcia quit not only the gun business, but all business in 1978. An internet search indicates that the company dissolved in that year. Various of its business lines were sold to other companies, with Stoeger assuming the U.S. Sako distributorship and one of the "Saturday Night Special" companies out of Florida taking on Garcia's handguns and cheaper lines, as well as its manufacturing (assembly) plant in Maryland(?).
 
Another curiosity: Garcia lists its address as 329 Alfred Avenue, Teaneck, NJ, 07666 in an October, 1974 advertisement.

So, why do all of the Garcia import stamps give "Wash. D.C." as the importer's location?
 
First statement: Garcia Parent Corporation address ( for the fishing gear)
Second, Importing still passing through the acquired FI facility until...?.
Just speculation on my part. I'll try some of that, too.
S-A
 
Hey Dick,
Very interesting. What caliber is your rifle with the "Garcia Corp" stamp? Maybe the very early Garcia imports were stamped Garcia Corp until the formation of Garcia Sporting Arms Corp, and then some time later went back to Garcia Corp?
Regards, Will
 
Perhaps its the "status" of Garcia and bringing in its then subsidiary import operation which Dick mentions.
A corporation is a business that has been legally incorporated. Being
incorporated is signified by the initials Inc. after a business or
after the name of a person who has incorporated themseves as a
corporate business.
As a subsidiary of Garcia it probably used Corp, then switched to Inc. Or do I have that backwards?

What I'm saying is there is some legalese in how the operation was registered and how they had to stamp depending on the timing and filings from FI to Garcia or as Garcia evolved itself.
Are there any corporate lawyers here?
S-A
 
Hey guy's
Here is some more info. From 1947 to 1969 company name was "Charles Garcia Corporation", and was located on Park Avenue in NYC. In 1969, name changed to the "The Garcia Corporation" and relocated to Teaneck, NJ. The company became public owned in 1970. Garcia absorbed Firearms International (FI) and it's import operations in D.C. and continued the use of "Sporting Arms" which was used by FI as well. Re-read of the Mitchell Reel Museum history section, reads that up until 1978, Impecco Ltd. was the exclusive agent of Mitchell and Abu products for The Garcia Corporation, importing fishing tackle, FIREARMS, ski, Camping and Tennis equipment from Europe to North America.
Regards, Will
 
Will, That's good. It seems to follow the legal scenario I speculated on.
Thanks. I'll tell that Cape Buffalo on the business end of my .375 H&H how it's stamped, that for sure. :monkey:
S-A
 
Here are a couple I just found on Gunbroker:

L61R, M72, SN 66588, "Garcia Sporting Arms, Wash., D.C."

L61R, SN 516549, "Garcia Corp., Wash., D.C."

So far, the early ones (5-digit SN's) seem to be "Garcia Sporting Arms", and the later ones (six-digit SN's) seem to be "Garcia Corp."

Hayseed's 5-digit gun with "Garcia Corp" seems to be the exception thus far.
 
That bears out with the limited information we see on Sako.fi site where the L61R's 5 digit serial numbers stopped in the 93xxx range and the later ones began at 500,000.
Dick, you're sitting on a fortune!
S-A
 
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