I found this old shotgun.

[351 WINCHESTER]

I have my Father in Law's old shotgun. The forearm is held together by two nuts and bolts. The front sight is gone and it's got some honest wear and rust. I got to looking at it and actually found the serial number on the water mark. It was made in Ct prior to 1918. My inlaws were very poor money wise. He used to tell me stories of how they lived.. They had hard lives, but they had Jesus. They loved their grand kids like you would not believe. One day when I get a 16 ga. shell I'm going to shoot it in his memory..

 

[Milkmaster]

Check out the shotgun thoroughly for sure. You don't want to hurt yourself and lose the heirloom too!

 

[WestKentucky]

Measure the length of the chamber. It’s easy to do... you will feel the forcing cone if you use a straight edge along the chamber wall. The old 16s were short and modern shells can be very problematic in guns in decent shape, can be catastrophic if guns are not great. I’m loading 16s by hand with luck... you could easily buy a box of 16s, trim off the crimp, replace the powder charge with black powder or pyrodex and then reassemble the cartridge with a piece of cardboard glued over the top. That’s a safe load to shoot in a gun that is mechanically sound but old enough to have short chambers with fast forcing cones.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Measure the length of the chamber. It’s easy to do... you will feel the forcing cone if you use a straight edge along the chamber wall. The old 16s were short and modern shells can be very problematic in guns in decent shape, can be catastrophic if guns are not great. I’m loading 16s by hand with luck... you could easily buy a box of 16s, trim off the crimp, replace the powder charge with black powder or pyrodex and then reassemble the cartridge with a piece of cardboard glued over the top. That’s a safe load to shoot in a gun that is mechanically sound but old enough to have short chambers with fast forcing cones.

I never thought about a short chamber. I've never been a shotgun guy. I've always had rifles and just a few shotguns. From what I have been able to find it was made between 1905 & 1918 & they made them in 4 different steels as I recall including Damascus, Krupp and two others. It locks up solid once it locks up. I really need to take it down and go over it. It was made by Meridem Firearms co. in Meridem, Ct. I say it's a 16 ga. because that is what I was told by my sister in law. I have not checked and if it is marked I cannot find it which I find strange. I remember my father in law talking about him and his brother each having 16 ga. single barrel which they killed a lot of game for the pot as times were hard.

 

[L-2]

I was curious about the brand name and believe there's a misspelling in Post_4. I believe the brand is MERIDEN.

This is just an FYI, no response necessary.

shorturl.at/agrNW

 

[MacAR]

Got pictures? I'd be interested to see what the gun looks like.

Mac

 

[12Bravo20]

With any old shotgun, I would have it checked out by a competent gun smith. Have them check to see if the gun is safe, what material it is made of and check the actually chamber length. Some of the old shotguns, especially 16, had shorter chambers back then. 2 1/2" chambers for 16 was common.

 

[George P]

As was 2-9/16" chambers. Krupp steel is German, good stuff and capable of modern loads of the right length - IF the rest of the gun is capable.

The Meriden Firearms Company of Meriden, Connecticut, USA manufactured small arms from 1905 to 1918. Meriden manufactured 20 varieties of hammer and hammerless revolvers with an output of 100 handguns a day in 1906. In addition to revolvers the company manufactured shotguns and rifles.[1]

The Meriden Firearms Company was formed when Sears, Roebuck & Co. purchased the Andrew Fyrberg & Sons firearms manufacturing plant and moved the plant and machinery to Meriden, Connecticut, in 1905 in the Malleable Iron Company's plant.[1] The company sold their firearms through the Sears catalog as well as via other retailers (using different trade names). Meriden introduced the Model 15 slide-action .22 rifle based on Savage patents in the fall of 1912. In 1918 Sears announced that the Meriden Firearms Company would discontinue the manufacture of sporting firearms.[2]

Double barrel shotguns
Meriden manufactured 12, 16, and 20 gauge sidelock double-barrel shotguns fitted with steel, laminated, twist, and Damascus barrels. Some of these guns were engraved by artisans who formerly worked for Parker (also located in Meriden). The shotguns were well made and available in a variety of grades. All had automatic safeties and cocking indicators. Barrels could be had in twist, damascus of several grades, armory steel or Krupp steel. Hammerless or hammer shotguns with varying amounts of engraving were available.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I was curious about the brand name and believe there's a misspelling in Post_4. I believe the brand is MERIDEN.

This is just an FYI, no response necessary.

shorturl.at/agrNW

My mistake.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Got pictures? I'd be interested to see what the gun looks like.

Mac

I still use an old flip phone (yea, I know). The old gal ain't much to look at though.

 

[12Bravo20]

As was 2-9/16" chambers. Krupp steel is German, good stuff and capable of modern loads of the right length - IF the rest of the gun is capable.

I probably am confused on the actual chamber lengths of the old guns. It very well could be 2 9/16" instead of 2 1/2". It has been a very long time since I ran across any old shotguns with a shorter chamber. I knew that they were shorter that the standard 2 3/4" chamber.

 

[entropy]

Measure the length of the chamber. It’s easy to do... you will feel the forcing cone if you use a straight edge along the chamber wall. The old 16s were short and modern shells can be very problematic in guns in decent shape, can be catastrophic if guns are not great. I’m loading 16s by hand with luck... you could easily buy a box of 16s, trim off the crimp, replace the powder charge with black powder or pyrodex and then reassemble the cartridge with a piece of cardboard glued over the top. That’s a safe load to shoot in a gun that is mechanically sound but old enough to have short chambers with fast forcing cones.

RST makes shells that will be safe to shoot in that gun. http://www.rstshells.com/
2 1/2 were US guns, Eurpoean guns were 2 9/16. It was possible to shoot 2 9/16 shells in a 2 1/2 gun though I'd suspect a slight increase in pressure. 2 1/2 is a 2 9/16 gun should be fine.
You should be able to shoot these out of any old 16 after thorough inspection by a gunsmith.

http://www.rstshells.com/store/p/116-16-Ga-2-1/2-Ultra-Lite-Vel-1100-3/4-oz-Load-Box.aspx


I will be buying shells from RST if I buy a 1937 Ithaca SxS I'm looking at.

 

[12Bravo20]

RST makes shells that will be safe to shoot in that gun. http://www.rstshells.com/
2 1/2 were US guns, Eurpoean guns were 2 9/16. It was possible to shoot 2 91/6 shells in a 2 1/2 gun though I'd suspect a slight increase in pressure. 2 1/2 is a 2 9/16 gun should be fine.
You should be able to shoot these out of any old 16 after thorough inspection by a gunsmith.

http://www.rstshells.com/store/p/116-16-Ga-2-1/2-Ultra-Lite-Vel-1100-3/4-oz-Load-Box.aspx


I will be buying shells from RST if I buy a 1937 Ithaca SxS I'm looking at.

Thank you! I now know that I haven't totally lost my mind concerning the chamber length on old shotguns.

 

[George P]

I probably am confused on the actual chamber lengths of the old guns. It very well could be 2 9/16" instead of 2 1/2". It has been a very long time since I ran across any old shotguns with a shorter chamber. I knew that they were shorter that the standard 2 3/4" chamber.

That is correct. For the OP, remember the chamber length is for a fired hull's length and back then, roll crimps were the norm. One can always use shorter ammo without worrying about encroachment into the forcing cone area (which is where the pressure increase concerns come from)
I hope you find out that your gun is shootable so you can enjoy a piece of family history.

 

[Howland937]

I've been told since I could remember that any Damascus or twisted steel barrel shotgun should be assumed to be unsafe for use and needs to be checked via magna-flux in order to prove otherwise.
As for the short chamber, I did experience that with an Auto-5 16 gauge. It was chambered for 2 9/16" and I had no idea. Scrounged up some 16 gauge shells and only realized a problem because the empty hull was too long to eject.

 

[George P]

Not all Damascus or twist is dangerous - a lot will depend on well cared for it was and how well made it was in the beginning. I have older friends who shoot Damascus SxS guns from 100+ years ago with either light loads of smokeless or BP. B y all means get it checked by someone who KNOWS guns like these, not some Glock parts changer; if safe order the shells from RST and enjoy