Treblig1958
Excellent point. I agree that these guns shot loose not from abuse, those boys shot what they had. My Dad would be a prime example of your "low paid worker". He bought his Meriden used sometime in the late '30's. He'd scrounge shells wherever he could find them, sometimes trading work for shells. A story he told was that he'd take a pocket full of shells,his Springer, and the Meriden and ride the trolley to the end of the line from Sioux Falls. Jump out and hunt pheasant, prairie chickens and ducks and ride the trolley back to town. I doubt seriously he ever worried about what the loads were, if they fit the gun, he shot 'em. By the time I started joining him in the mid '50's, things were much better. We'd take the '53 Chevrolet sedan delivery and do the same thing, but the prairie chickens had disappeared. Dad shot Peters and Federal 1 1/4 6's by that time. Not a violent load, but the Meriden was loose by the late 50's and moved to the back of the closet for a new sxs--a Mercury 12gauge 3". Happy to say, my brother and I had the gun completely reworked a couple years ago and she's once again hunting, though with lighter loads.
Steve
