doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The American “Everyman” Doubles

“… an inexpensive, multi-purpose, durable, double barrel shotgun that looks and behaves like a much more expensive one but costs about half as much or even less. It is the ideal double shotgun for ‘Everyman’.”

“Like many, I started my collection of American shotguns with the iconic premium, or luxury, brands. While presenting an educational display at the Maryland Antique Arms Show in Baltimore in 2018, it dawned on me that I could not tell the story of the double barrel shotgun in America without addressing 90 percent of the guns sold here.”

https://sportingclassicsdaily.com/early-20th-century-affordable-american-doubles/

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

OWD

They are the guns that nobody in the states can produce, today. Lowly tools, that went about the business of protecting stock, filling the larder, or, resting behind the kitchen door, a sentinel against the dark and the vermin that came with it.

Imagine what a Western Arms double, or, its cousin, the Nitro Special, would cost to produce today. Interesting to note, the author pretty much admits those guns would not have happened, if tariffs hadn’t allowed it.

Best,
Ted

And the tariffs put in place in 1930 were instrumental in prolonging the Great Depression. Tariffs were a bad idea then and are a bad idea today, as seen by the out of control inflation we are experiencing and the 80,000 manufacturing jobs lost in the last year here in the States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act

I appreciate …

that this gentleman was honest when, as a collector and double gun historian, he realized that he was ignoring the very large majority of doubles that Americans actually owned and used

and

that increasingly these are the guns that Americans are bringing him to restore as a part of preserving their own family histories.

The cost for some was surprisingly low when compared to gold standard in early 1900s which cost about $25.

That $25 was about the "everyman" standard

c. 1912 hardware/sporting goods catalog prices. $25 = about $900 today
Parker Trojan - $27.50
Torkelson B Grade - $25
L.C. Smith No. 00 - $25
Fox Sterlingworth - $25
DS Grade Lefever - $25
Field Grade Ithaca - $19
Baker Batavia Special - $19
Manhattan Arms Co./ Hunter Arms Co. Fulton - $15
Stevens No. 335 - $15.85
Folsom/Crescent/American Gun Co. Knickerbocker - $13.50
N.R. Davis B.S. grade - $14
Hopkins & Allen - $15

The United States Revenue Act of 1913, also known as the Underwood Tariff or Underwood-Simmons Act re-imposed the federal income tax and lowered the basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%, well below that of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909. The 1913 Act established the lowest rates since the Walker Tariff of 1857. Most schedules were put on an ad valorem basis (a % of the dollar value of the item.) The duty on woolens went from 56% to 18.5%. Steel rails, raw wool, iron ore, and agricultural implements had zero rates.
Since 1894 “Sporting, breech-loading double-barrel shotguns” had a 35% ad valorem PLUS an import duty of $1.50 if priced less than $6, $4 if $6-$12, and $6 if priced greater than $12. “Single-barrel breech-loading shotguns” had the same 35% ad valorem PLUS an import duty of $1. The Tariff Act of 1913 changed the duty to 15% ad valorem.
Suddenly, foreign shotguns began to flood the American market. The US firearms industry, and the international economy, was profoundly altered however in 1914 by the outbreak of World War I. American products, including arms and ammunition, were suddenly in great demand throughout the world, while imports from much of Europe dropped markedly.

1939 Stoeger Catalog No. 31 (Courtesy of David Noreen) $25 = about $600 today
Winchester Model 12 Standard Grade - $42.50
Remington Model 31AP - $42.95
Ithaca Model 37 Standard - $42.95
Two Trigger Extractor Doubles
New Ithaca Double Field Grade - $43
Lefever Nitro Special - $30.85
Lefever A-Grade - $37.35
Western Arms Long Range Double - $24.95
Iver Johnson Hercules - $35 / $32 in .410
L.C. Smith Field Grade - $43.20 (Same as Hunter Arms SRP)
Hunter Arms Fulton - $25
Hunter Arms Hunter Special - $31.75

How much was a box of 2-3/4" , #6s back then?

Pre-WWI
UMC Nitro Club 12g 2 3/4" 3 Dr.Eq. 1 1/8 oz. soft shot $36.50/1000; chilled shot $39/1000
Peters Target and High Gun (shot not specified) $37.50/1000
Sears Pointer soft shot $36.20/1000; chilled 38.50/1000
So a box of shells was about $1 which would be about $35 today.
In the 1920s a box was $1.10 - $1.25

Sad that a Thread on inexpensive U.S. built doubles triggered this largely dishonest crying jag from Princess Stevie.

If Princess Stevie had any reading comprehension and actually read the wikipedia entry she provided, she would not be saying that Tariffs lead to the Great Depression. The Depression had already started and the 1929 Stock Market Crash happened before the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was passed. Lies are nothing new from the Princess.

Of course, Princess Stevie is still suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, and just last week was crying to craigd, and calling Trump, "your President." So now we have the Princess calling Trump "your President", when she has repeatedly claimed she voted for Trump every time since he first ran in 2015. We all knew that was bullshit because she was frequently critical of Trump while being totally silent about much worse performance from the anti-gun Democrat Joe Biden.

In last weeks tense exchange with craigd, Princess Stevie was whining about $5.00/gal. gas prices when the National average was actually much less. So there's another easily provable lie. And our closet Democrat Princess never once complained when gas prices were much higher under Biden. And let's not forget that a big part of current gas prices is due to the 20 to 25% Inflation caused by Biden economic policies. Again, Princess Stevie never once complained about the Bidenflation we are still stuck with, and will never mention that current gas prices would be quite a bit lower if Bidenflation never happened.

Trump also did not raid and drain the Strategic Oil Reserve for political gain. I'd love to see an audit of how much the Reserve was actually depleted after being filled to the brim by Trump, and how much of the proceeds were stolen by Democrats. Unemployment is up marginally, but still quite a bit lower than the average for Bidens term. Unemployment fell throughout Trumps first term, in spite of him imposing Tariffs then as well. It will take some time for new factories to be built and begin hiring Americans, after decades of offshoring and massive job losses that Princess Stevie will never mention.

I paid $3.58/gal yesterday, and never batted an eye even when prices got up near $5.00. I expect things will be getting back to normal fairly soon. It was well worth a little short term pain to defang Iran and stop their pursuit of nuclear weapons. Besides, my oil stock dividends more than cover my annual fuel usage costs. I remember a lot of older people talking about shortages and price increases that happened during WWII, but none of them cried like Princess Stevie, and none ever said we should not have gone to war to stop Germany and Japan.