2-piper in my case I had one gun. A Winchester Model 12 in 28 gauge. With that gun I hunted everything except deer. Dove, quail, rabbits, squirrels, snipe, rail, ducks and the unlucky crow. One gun for everything.
I got two cases of shells for my birthday in late August. One, one ounce factory loads of 7 1/2 shot and one of 6s. Back in those days those cases held 500 shells not the flats of 250 today. That was to last me all hunting season long because back then 28s were not stocked at the Western Auto store or my uncles Southern States store. If I had money either would order them for me but most years I never saved up enough for a full case. There was no extra price for being a 28 like there is today. Most times 28s were same as the 20 or a little less.
You could get 12, 16 , 20 or even .410 by the box. Heck my uncle would sell shells to poor fellows, colored hunters, a few at the time if they wanted them. Ive seen many a box with four or five shells missing. A man could come buy maybe a shell for ten cents or three for a quarter, maybe four or five for fifty cents. Theres was no sky busting in those days by those men. A lot of ground scraping I suspect, creeping up close for a easy shot or waiting until two birds or squirrels lined up for a two for one shot.
