Just read about early (1890--1920) era economy grade doubles that retailed for under $25.00 (a week's wages for many men back then) in recent edition of Sporting Classics magazine. Sears Roebuck apparently owned a gun manufactory in Meriden Ct. and produced the A.J. Aubrey line up under that name-and apparently sold quite a few of them-- Just co-incidence that the Aubrey guns were built in the very same town as "Parker-America's Finest Double"?? Or was there some tie-in, as there was with Hunter Arms and the Fulton operation that built their economy box-lock series>> I recently bought a used A.J. Aubrey sidelock 12 gauge sn 60878- 30" Damascus barrels DT, EXT-- marked on the top rib "MFG By The Meriden Firearms Co. Meriden CT. Pat'd July 9, 1907--both barrels rang like chimes, positive safety, good trigger pulls, and apparently, as I patterned it at 35 yds. with RST 1 oz. No. 8-- full choke in each tube. No dents, bores are like mirrors- amazingly good over-all condition.

Can anyone shed some light on the A.J.Aubrey shotguns, over and above that contained in the SC article?? RWTF

made by meridan for sears, as i recall...

Made by Aubrey for Sears Roebuck and Company. Some of the graded Aubreys were really nice guns.

Some very nice guns were also produced by the Meriden Fire Arms Co. as well.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BnNidc_mnzJg-CJ9wCVZDqwNbi5gojDx4rpXs9wQ_Cc/edit



The A.J. Aubrey, The Meriden Gun, and the Meriden Firearms Co. guns were made in the same factory



As Dean said, another line of much higher grade guns were manufactured
The 1910 Meriden Firearms Co. catalog shows the following grades:
A with Whitworth, Krupp, or 6-blade damascus for $250 with AE;
B with Krupp or 6-blade for $185 with AE;
C with Krupp or 4-blade for $110 with AE;
D “Trap Gun” with Krupp or 3-blade for $90 with AE;
E “Quail Gun” with Krupp and ONLY 16G for $60 (no AE offered);
F with Krupp or 3-blade for $60 with AE;
G with Krupp for $40.

Production of these guns was apparently quite limited as very few are found today. It is not known if the intended market for these more expensive models may have been Fred Biffar's company or other national dealers.

A 1910 “The Meriden Gun” ad is in Forest & Stream
https://books.google.com/books?id=mEkcAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA392

Pete Mikalajunas had an article in the DGJ Vol. 21, Issue 1, 2010

William H. Gough was in Meriden, engraved for Parker Bros., was later head of the engraving department at the A.H. Fox Gun Co., and also did contract work for Hollenbeck Gun Co., Meriden Fire Arms, Colt and Winchester.

Peter Mikalejunas (sp) was an Aubrey expert. Sadly, he passed away.

Their graded guns are very nice. BUT! They put it all on the outside. Insides can appear crude.

I have a pretty high grade Aubrey. The birds engraved on the locks look just like those on my GH Parker.

Sears was a business man first. Sears owned Meriden F.A. Company. Aubrey designed the gun and ran the plant. With Parker established and close by, skilled day laborers could find work at either plant. The Meriden F.A. Co., guns can also be found stamped with trade names, the most common being BERKSHIRE.

Thanks for the great and informative replies- No engraving, 18 lpi checkering-- Number 2 is stamped on the watertable right next to the serial humber-- grade, or frame size?? Shoots great, solid dense patterns from either barrel- probably will be in my battery of barn pigeon guns. RWTF

I sold Pete a Wm Gough engraved Aubrey that he put the pictures of on his website. Thos closeups of the disappearing middle bead (a patent by AJ Aubrey) were also my pics. They seem to show up around the net.
12ga, 32" F&F. Nice engraving and wood.
A heavy gun, I shot it quite aa bit before selling it.

Meriden/Aubrey usually stamped the Barrel material and the bbl length on the water table just above the guns serial number.
This is usually on the left side of the water table

They commonly used single letter codes for the steel types.
S-Steel,, T-Twist,, K-Krupp,,D-Damascus,,C-Chain Damascus
Then the barrel length in inches.

A common marking would be 'T30' for Twist barrels 30" length.

A '2' I'm not sure what the meaning would be.

If it's stamped on the opposite side of the water table (right side) from that where the ser# is stamped,,then it's the Grade of the shotgun.

Low Number= low grade,,higher the number higher the grade.
The grades ran into the 50 and I believe the 60 Grade numbers.

I've had more than a few Meriden/Aubrey shotguns and a couple of their pump and single shot .22's. Oddly no handguns that I can recall.
I still have one of their Model 1912(?) pump 12ga shotguns and a single shot 12 hammer gun. Just sold the hammerless single shot 12,,quite a nice gun in itself.
One of the nicest .22 pumps was a a Deluxe Model 1915 Meriden that I brought back from near death after a buffer got ahold of it at some point.

I had a 50(52) grade which was a very nice gun. Some owner had added a full size ivory bead on the rear of the barrel which did not work at all. Never figured out what his intent was. Did he think an extra rear sight could be lined up like rifle sights? Had it removed and plugged so well you could not find the hole. Unfortunately, I let’s it go down the road about a decade ago and have lost track of its whereabouts as the buyer has passed away and nobody knows what he did with it.

The first Aubrey made. This is serial #1000. The guns started at this number.

Grade 58 and 55 on Drew’s ad. Grade 58, which is nicely engraved gun with higher than average barrel material , seems to be the highest “catalog” grade listed, but they note special guns could be ordered.