My family were all double guys, I tried to get them as most of the family didn't carry on the hunting tradition. As follows;
1. My Dad gave me his Richardson 20 ga. sxs. Nothing to brag about, but a most prized gun from a man of few means. My son has been shooting it for years.
2. Dad's Mercury 12 ga., same as above, was given to my brother in law, a non hunter. It was stolen from his home some years ago.
3. Dad's Meridan 12 ga. My brother has it. Illness has forced him to quit hunting and he's going to give it to me.
4. Grandpa's Fox 16 ga., my Grandma gave it to me years ago.
5. Uncle's Winchester Model 24....think it was a 16 but not sure. My Aunt, after his death, took the gun apart and threw the pieces in 3 separate dumpsters! I know, many of you would say that was a just end to a 24.
6. Lastly, a Stevens 311 .410 that was the family starter gun for children and grandchildren. I've carried on the tradition and my grandkids have all started with the same gun.
I still keep my eye open for a Mercury, though it was one of the cheap Spanish doubles that hit the market in the late 50's it was one pheasant killing machine. As a matter of fact, if you could gather all the pheasants up that the above guns shot you'd likely fill a 48' trailer. Most of those guns were carried in SD cornfields when South Dakota really had a lot of birds.
