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

I have what sound like the twin sister of your gun in the project safe. Bought it for very little money several years ago with the intention of fixing it up as a decent shooter. You are quite right the barrels are very thick indeed and minor pitting should not be hard to clean up. The design is decent and the quality might be deemed to be less than a Smith, about in line with most Bakers and well above the Crescent. When fixed up they make a passable shooter that will raise interest of others who never saw one before.

One of the least consistent things about Meriden / Aubrey guns is the model number. Some have it, many others do not.

When I wrote that article, only 200 had been located. The number is approaching 1,500 at this point. Thing is most people never sell those guns. They get passed down to family members.

Pete

Here's a better option for repairing a spreading stock. A bolt through the flats doesn't really fix the problem, its kind of like using a knee brace instead of surgery to repair an ACL...

http://www.parkerguns.org/pages/faq/FAQsupportPictures/Split%20Stock%20Repair.pdf

I'm working a pretty intensive research project pertaining to Meriden Fire Arms. Early 'A.J. Aubrey' guns often didn't have a model number stamped on them. The model number became standard as production carried one and the label transitioned from 'A.J. Aubrey' to 'The New Aubrey' to eventually 'Meriden Fire Arms Co.'

Send you some photos and your serial number and I may be able to help you narrow the date of gun.

Joe
info@meridenfirearms.com

Well, the guy with the Aubrey put such a give away price on it for me I just had to take it. I send a fair amount of business his way, so I suppose he is paying me back in a way.

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From the serial number I guess it is a 1908 gun, a model 56, marked C32.
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I don't know what the "C" in C32 stands for. The gun does have 32 inch barrels and it seems to me, having perused Mr Haus' damascus site and others, that the barrels might be "chain" pattern damascus ?????


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At any rate I now have a winter project, something to keep me occupied when I'm not in the field and don't care to watch football, but would rather learn about old guns.
The "gunk" seems to mostly have been just many years' worth of dirt and grime. Although the barrels and action look like some idiot tried to blue them some how years and years ago.
The barrels are nice and thick, with one ding and some very low level pitting. The action is in terrible need of a real good strip and clean. I have gotten most of the gunk off the stock (fore end a different matter) and although dinged and scratched, it looks like a decent piece of wood.
I am going to take this very slowly, but am going to try to put her back in shooting shape.
Best Regards, and thanks for all the help and advice!

Yes, it's Chain Damascus. A Model 58

Very, very nice! Lovely pattern damascus.

It looks like a nice project gun. From what I can see the wood is proud to the metal, there�s no rounded edges from someone sanding on it, screws aren�t bad, yes they�re a little buggered but not terribly, and it has a beautiful damascus barrels. You haven�t shown the wrist damage, but I imagine that if you say that it�s easily corrected then it can�t be too bad. It�s good to know so many here are willing to write it off as a parts gun, it helps keep the prices affordable for bottom feeders like me.

More examples here
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/17474742 [/quote]

I think all guns should come with a 60 day FREE TRIAL!! Love the old adds..Awesome!

They also had a 20 year guaranty that came with each gun.



The Aubrey / Meriden was one of a hand full of true American sidelocks. The earlier guns (serial numbers below about 40,000) have better engraving.

Pete