doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Meriden Firearms Co

Thought I had the Sears, A.J. Aubry, Meriden Fire Arms thing figured out
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=17474742

BUT just received a Meriden Firearms Co., Meriden, Conn. 1908 catalog reproduction from Cornell Pubs, and this ain't them!
The top-of-the-line is the 'A' grade AE, Whitworth, Krupp, or 6-blade Damascus for $250.
I've been searching google and all I can find is the usual 'it was made by Sears' stuff. Any mention in The Double Gun Journal Vol. 1, Issue 4, 1990 by Charles Carder or Vol. 6, Issue 3, 1995. I've got the Vol. 16, Issue 2, 2005 article by James Tyson. Help please!

There's a pretty good write-up in Carder's "SxS of the World for Y2K". They say that Meriden was founded in 1905 BY SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO.! I would have guessed they just made guns FOR Sears, as most companies did. They also mention 7 grades, from $40 to $250, and sold under their own name. The write-up is too long to copy but what you saw pretty much matches what Carder says.

Thanks Jim-that would be them. The illustration of the action is certainly different than the A.J. Aubrey action in the Sears 1908 catalog, though both are sidelocks. Were they made in the same production facility, managed by Aubrey?! The illustration of the building is also different.
The first gun on the PictureTrail album is a 'The AJ Aubrey' but is stamped Meriden Fire Arms Co. on the rib. I'm really confused

As I understand it there was one company, owned by Sears and run by A. J. Aubry. The guns made for Sears used his name, the one made for the trade were sold under Meridian. I have a total of six Aubry/Meridians. All of mine are the same basic design with just one or two very minor changes. The quality of the mid grades is very nice. In the end I think Sears decided to buy clunkers from Belgian makers and better guns form others rather than try to make them their self and got out of the business after just a few years.

Hope I never come a cross the $250.00 model as I paid enough for the 52/53 model. Hate to think what a real nice example like that might cost.

Post deleted by HomelessjOe

Thanks jOe: I contacted the seller to see if those are 52s.

Has anyone actually seen a Meriden marked 'A' or 'B' or 'D Trap Gun' or 'E Quail Gun' "particularly for our Southern friends..."?
Is it possible this was all a marketing campaign and the guns were never made?? In 1908, a Parker AHE cost $325 and a LC Smith Monogram $375, Parker BHE was $225 and Smith 5E $215. Who would spend $185 for a B grade AE Meriden?

HomelessJ0e-

Very nice find! Thanks so much for posting that. My oldest shotgun and only damascus (and only hammer gun) happens to be a field grade Meriden Special. I don't think these shotguns ever got much respect, but I really like mine. I have handled and shot a contemporary LC Smith and at the risk of angering some LC devotees I would say that the Meriden was pretty close in terms of build quality and the stock on my Meriden shows no signs of cracking. My Meriden is quite a bit heavier (the LC had fluid steel barrels and the twist damascus of the Meriden is extremely robust). But the Meriden patterns very nicely (better than the LC I shot) with the 7/8 oz loads I use and I have shot the Meriden as well as I can shoot any shotgun on trap. Looking at the rib on the Meriden one can see a very heavy Parker influence and this may be no accident as the Meriden could have easily have been designed and manufactured by moonlighting or former Parker employees, and one might easily conclude that the new Meriden Firearms Company had no reservations about using the Meriden connection to promote their wares. I think Meriden also managed to get one of the better engravers of the day to work on the high-grade guns.

Drew-

In my 1908 Sears catalogue, there is a section that discusses the fact that the Meriden Firearms Company would build to the customer's order. While I suspect few went to the trouble or expense, this makes for the possibility of finding any number of variations on the Meriden theme. "At $50 and upward [and who knows how high this could be] Mr. Aubrey will continue making extra fine, elaborately engraved special guns to special order." The company went on to state that if you were one of these lucky customers "Mr. Aubrey will be glad to take the matter up with you personally, referring to every little detail and personally he will tell you all about it... ."

My Meriden is an earlier shotgun and uses V springs in the locks, later versions were made using coil springs. It is in every respect, other than nomenclature, identical to the A. J. Aubrey double barrel hammer shotgun shown in the 1908 catalogue. I would be very interested in seeing some of the sections in the Meriden catalogue, particularly if my shotgun is mentioned and to see if the prices of the Meridens were on par with those of the A.J. Aubrey shotguns.

Doug

Doug-it's a digitally enhanced repro of a not very good catalog, and the pics don't really show the engraving patterns.
Inside the front cover is a pic of a factory 'Meriden Firearms Co. Shotguns Revolvers Rifles' which HAS to be the A.J. Aubrey run facility. The only guns illustrated are the 'Meriden' line of shotguns graded:
A with Whitworth, Krupp, or 6-blade damascus for $250 with AE
(interesting also that the Sears catalog Aubrey/Meriden guns didn't offer AE until about 1912?)
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

I once had the Quail model that had original 24" Krupp barrels. I remember that it was marked with an E, but not with Quail. Here is a high grade Aubrey, Serial no. 1000. Must have been a special gun. It has the Aubrey patent pop up sight at mid rib. This gun has auto ejectors.

thanks Daryl!-is that a damascus barrel? what model # is stamped on the receiver?