doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Meriden Firearms

PS - Any input on how to load a photo directly to a post rather than using a link?

Dave-

Fantastic find, that one sure looks mint! I have lots of questions. What are the barrels like internally? What barrel length did you find? What's your SN, mine is 24XXX (curious to see if your gun is older, newer or of roughly the same vintage as my shotgun.

It might simply be a shadow in your photo, but it looks like your right hammer screw needs to be tightened down. If your shotgun is like mine, you might want to put some thread sealer on the screw while you are at it. I am eager to hear how it shoots for you, so do please update after you have had a chance to shoot it. Your shotgun with fluid steel barrels is probably a little stronger (and lighter) than mine, however, you will want to treat it to light loads nonetheless (for the sake of the wood if for no other reason). I will bet the shotgun will give you a lifetime of service.

Doug

Doug

I agree the more I look at it the more I like it. Bores are excellent, bright and virtually no marks at all. Barrels are 30", chokes are full and full (extra full really) so I don't think they've been cut. Rib is matted with wavy lines like a Parker. SN is 282XX. I'm going to take it appart and clean it up not sure what all I should do to it. Lock screws seem to be good, some locktight might not hurt. I need to find a good light load formula, the lightest I've ever loaded generated about 8700 psi. Should I be looking for something 6000... or even less?

Dave

Dave: In your post, you state " I don't think they've been cut" The Meriden Firearms did something that I wish every gunmaker had done. They stamped the barrel length and the type of barrel steel, on the water table. You should find a letter and 2 digits on the water table to identify the barrel steel and the factory length, such as K32, for a 32' Krupp barrel, D28 for a 28" Damascus, S30 for 30" Fluid Steel, and T26 for a 26" Twist Steel barrel... MDC

Hello Gents, in case anyone is interested I just posted a Meriden Hammerless 12 gauge Twist barrels for sale. It's in pretty nice shape. Silvers

Dave-

I am not a shotgun shell reloader (but that may have to change), so you have a real advantage here. As far as pressures are concerned, you need to be in your own comfort zone. There are many qualified folks here when it comes to building good low pressure, low recoil loads for these vintage doubles.

In my case, because I am shooting damascus, prudence dictates that I use the lowest pressure loads I can find and the 7/8oz Federal from Midway with an advertised pressure of 5,000psi fits the bill. Recoil isn't too bad either.

Even if the damascus on my Meriden can handle more pressure, or if shooting your gun with fluid steel barrels why push our luck with hard recoiling loads? Have you ever noticed how many of these old double guns (particularly LC Smith) have cracked stocks? Wood is the weakest part of many of these older shotguns. So far my Meriden's stock is fine (no cracking whatsoever near the side plates) and I would very much like to keep it that way.

The 7/8oz loads perform remarkably well in the tightly choked Meriden on trap and no doubt play a substantial part in keeping recoil and pressures to a minimum. The velocity is fast (which helps cope the slower lock time of a hammer gun) and because these guns are tightly choked, you will find few holes in your patterns, even with 7/8oz.

Last Saturday with the Meriden and the 7/8oz loads I managed to score back to back 22/25, and the 6 missed targets out of 50 were not the gun or load's fault...totally me (4 were very easy straight away shots where I simply shot too quickly).

Your Meriden is a shotgun that the more you look at it and the more you use it the more it will grow on you. It is purpose built with form following function, and you should find it works well.

Happy shooting-

Doug

Pete; I just took some pictures of the makers marks that are on my barrels. 12 gauge 30" steel barrels. I do not know how to post the pics here but would be happy to email them to you if you are interested. It looks like a sliver moon or C with a line above it.

Here is the FAQ for posting images:
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...0df792#Post6339


Pete

Sorry Pete; I can't figure it out. I tried for about 10 minutes. I'm a chimney guy not a computer guy. The C or quarter moon is facing left or backwards with a small mark above it. My email is in my profile. Sorry that I can't post for all to see. I should take a class for this.

Dave and Sweep-

Here's what I do and it works pretty easily (it would have to for me to use it). First, go to Photobucket and set up an account (it is free):

http://photobucket.com/

Then to upload, put your camera's memory card in the card slot on your computer or if the photo is on your computer's drive that's fine, use the browse function in photobucket and locate the photo(s) you want to share with others. Once uploaded you will see the photo with a number of different links. Some of the links are good for inserting in an e-mail, and one of the links is designed for sharing on this and other forums, it is called the IMG Code and begins with [IMG} and ends with [IMG]. Highlight the code by right clicking on it and then copy it. If I have more than one photo to share, I will copy it and paste the copied links to a Word document. Then copy and paste the link (or if you are posting several photos and are using a Word document all the links off of the word document) into the message box of this forum. To see if you did it correctly, you simply click on the preview post function and you should see your message and your photos exactly where you pasted the link in your message (although lately the preview post function hasn't been working for me for some reason). Typing your message on Word also allows you to check your spelling and grammar with the spell check function of Word (or Word Perfect). This should do the trick. Good luck.

Doug