I was probably about 14 years old when the old German gunsmith who had a shop near my parent's home showed me how a few different American doubles had single locking bolt systems. Then he proudly showed me a couple German shotguns with three locking bolts, and told me they were much stronger.
It made a lot of sense at the time. Years later, I learned that many guns with multiple bolts are poorly fitted to the point that only one bolting surface is doing the work. Even bolt action rifles are often lapped to get both locking lugs bearing evenly. But many of those pre-war German guns had some very nice workmanship and highly polished internal parts, so maybe they are better. I don't know how one could actually check a shotgun, other than coating locking surfaces with carbon black or layout blue, and checking for even contact. Getting three locking bolts to all bear perfectly would take some meticulous attention to detail. I'd hope to have such close fitting in a Best Quality gun. But most shooters would probably never know unless it prematurely went off the face. Some guns stand the test of time, and some don't.
