doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - What to do with an Aubrey?

Hello fellas! I haven't posted in some time, but I was photographing some guns for a sale for a client and I pulled this one out of my safe for the setup.

I bought it maybe 10 years years ago for what I consider a song. I've not seen one quite like it (from mid-bead to condition to early serial number). It's a gem to be sure. But, have prices/respect for the Aubrey's gone up? Is there any demand in the market yet? Will there ever be? The last I shopped them (I got on a kick and bought maybe a dozen in a two year period) the nicer ones just sat stagnant on the auction sites for years. I believe this to be all original finishes. The bores are pristine and it's as tight as the day it was made with only minor safe wear and some minor corrosion on the barrel surfaces.

So what say you? Put it back in the safe another 10 years? Take it to the fields on a sunny day? Move it along?

In the end what do you think the final standing of the Meriden Firearms Company will be? Will they ever gather a real following?



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"Kinda nice looking piece, but......" Actually Shane, I think it will probably just wither away in YOUR safe much like it has already. Soooooo, I think that I should help you avoid the heartache of seeing that happen by taking it off your hands for another song!! Seriously, that is a fine looking piece and I would shoot it like there was no tomorrow. If, IF, you plan to sell it do you have a dollar figure in mind?

Aubrey and Meridians are very much underappreciated in today's market. I sold a couple middle grades 50/52/56, in high condition, and got very little out of them. I had to thin the herd a bit at the time, but regret letting them go down the road. Case color, wood and quality of engraving was very nice, except one had the classic flying turnip bird of some type. It is just nobody seems to care much about them, so you do not get two people fighting to buy them at auction. They are sound designs and you might a well shoot it and enjoy it.

Much like most European guns and most all American guns, the Aubreys and Meridens were made to a price point. Ads supplied earlier show this. They also mention higher than catalog grades [usually a 58] could be ordered. I had serial number 1000, the first recorded Aubrey hammerless gun, probably used to sell the gun design to Sears. It was fully engraved , probably by Gough, with ejectors, the patented Aubrey sight, and gold washed interiors. A very pretty and rare gun with high grade Damascus barrels. I have seen only a fist full of the Aubreys or Meridens in that highest grade, mostly with 4 digit serial numbers. This gun is shown in a Double Gun Journal article .