A Stevens 311 was my dream gun as an Iowa kid. (By then, it was just about the only American double still being made!) But I did want to upgrade from the Stevens .410 single I'd inherited from my older brother, so I saved the money I made pumping gas. I was all set to buy a new 311 when my dad found me a better deal: Savage 420 OU 20ga. Cost me $65 with a pretty nice soft case. That was my first double. Bought a twin to that one not long ago out of pure nostalgia. I discovered that pure nostalgia only goes so far, and the darned thing still handles like a fencepost.

There might've been nicer sxs around on the used racks when I was a kid, but I'm like Daryl--I sure don't remember them, and there were at least 3 pretty well-stocked gunshops where I grew up. The guns I remember as high dollar doubles from those days were the Browning Superposeds.