doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ricard & Co. Double

Ah, "Trade Name" rather than Spurious. Wadda'ya know..I wonder if "A Parker" was a hardware store..

American farmers needed "farm tools" and the JABC's were made as such. Give 'em a nod for having filled a need.

DDA

Amen Bro. Don. This gentleman looks plenty proud

True, Drew. Guns, even JABC's, were bordering on luxury items when bought new. Everybody and thing on the farm worked hard to pull its weight. It should be no surprise that JABC's (built to the price point farmers could afford) lacked the care and staying power of the higher priced English guns. Never the less, they deserve our respect for their contribution to making America great. Without them many of us would not be in position to enjoy their rich cousins from accross the Channel.

DDA

1895-1910 $1 was the equivalent of $23-25 in 2010
http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

The average hourly wage for all industrial workers was $.21 in 1900 and $.24 in 1910.
http://books.google.com/books?id=T6spAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA232&lpg
In 1900, 52% of the total workforce earned less than $.16 hourly.

1908 Sears catalog prices; the Smith 00 was $25; at $.25/hour that's 100 hours of work.
Ithaca Field - $18
�Improved 1908 Model New England Hammerless�; likely Fyrberg - $11.95
New England American Hammergun; likely Crescent Fire Arms - $8.95
New England Wonder Hammergun - $10.95
Aubrey/Meriden Fire Arms hammerless Model 18 - $13.85
T. Barker Hammergun - $12.45

More price comparisons here
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1OTND2bQH0vhlbCf7c2sN8H1vzmT7xagUSXhewGB03SE

Here's a question I have always had: did the non-price point sporting arms see the same level of use as their price point counterparts? Or could the price point versions withstand heavy use like all the other tools used by those as folks as poor as Job's Turkey?


Cheers,

Raimey
rse

No H.&D. Folsom Arms Co. nor Crescent Fire Arms Co. records survive, but Joe Vorisek estimated the following production 1897-1932 at more than 1,200,000 doubles:
Sidelock Hammerless (except Empire and Quail Model) - 450,000
Empire, New Empire and Quail Model Hammerless double - 120,000
Hammer Double (except small gauge) - 630,000
Small gauge hammer double - 40,000

Not too many are still shooting

Despite the condescension toward "Farm Implement Grade" U.S. doubles, most well used but not abused 00/Field Grade Smiths and Ithacas are still doing fine, with minor maintenance

Or it is possible they were fed an improper diet of higher pressure cartridges @ a later date?

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

True that these guns were fed whatever would fit in them.
There was little to no regard for chamber or cartridge length & pressure was not generally understood.
I remember this from my childhood, & also the cheap attitude of those who were poor farmers that lived through depression years.
They bought cheap guns & one box of ammo lasted them for years.
They could not afford practice shooting & my grand father used to chastise me as a bullet waster.
So, yes Raimey, I think most were not shot a lot early on & then ruined by the later high pressure ammo when the boys got a hold of Dads old gun, post WWII.
O.M

the name on the lock plate is spelled without a K in the name,the favorite trick of the of the Belgian cheap gun trade.