The lock’s age can’t easily be pinned down, I’d have to say between 1945 (when Gougler took over the former J.B. Miller lock company) and the 1970s (when Gougler sold their lock division to a Miller family unrelated to the original J.B. Miller family).
In my experience numbers stamped on the case are not of much help. Often, when a large group of locks was sold to a school or factory, this was a “blind code” specific to that customer. If a student or employee lost the combination, the code could be looked up in a book provided to the institution. I’ve never heard of anybody acquiring such a book and it would only apply to locks in that group.
Check the shackle carefully. There might be a number stamped on one side, or there might be a number stamped on the underside (a bad location, it turned out, because of wear).
Also, try turning the dial left several turns; does it keep turning or does it stop? Repeat the test, turning right several turns. On some of these locks the starting operation before dialing the combination is to turn left (or right) to zero; on other Gouglers the starting operation is to dial left (or right) to the stop. If the dial does not stop (or if it stops in both directions) then we don’t know the starting direction, try both. From there, count the clicks. For example right (or left) 4 clicks, reverse for one click, and so on. The shackle is not spring-loaded, it will not “pop” open like many others do.
