Meriden Double Shotgun

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eng208

New member
I did a search on Meriden Firearms, and I know that they were owned by Sears Roebuck from around 1905-1918. I have a 12 Ga. side by side with exposed hammers that I inherited from my grandfather. It is in superb condition, and was used by him to go coon, rabbit, and squirrel hunting. How can I tell if the barrels are "Damascus"? I always thought damascus gave metal the layered look like the damascus knives. I have heard that these barrels are damascus, but they look just like any other shotgun I have seen. I bought some Winchester Low noise, low recoil No. 8 shot loads to shoot in it. I placed a heavy Army field jacket over it the first time I fired it to contain anything in case it blew apart, then fired it from a safe distance with protective gear on. It fired fine, and gave a "low recoil, low noise" report. The gun is really very tight and in great shape. I would like to be able to continue to shoot it with low power loads. Would that be ok? Is there anything I should check on it? I feel like Jed Clampit with it.:)
 
Boil a pan of water and dip the tips of the barrels in it. When you take it out if it's damascus the patterns will show before the water dries which it will do pretty quick. There's a lot of hype about damascus barrels blowing up which is just what it is, hype. As long as they're in good shape they're perfectly safe to shoot with light loads or full strength bp loads. They're also some of the best handling and shooting guns you will find. Let the hype continue cuz as long as it does the damascus barreled guns will stay cheap and there'll be more for me.:D
 
Thanks, I kind of thought most of the hype about the damascus stuff is probably from somebody that knows somebodies cousin that shot one of the old shotguns and probably had a 3" high brass in it after it had been shot everyday for about 70 years type of thing. I like the way it carries, much more balanced than any modern shotgun I have ever handled.
 
Meriden Shotgun

Meriden shotguns are marked as to type of barrel steel. On the water table, you will find one of the following, K, S, D, T, followed by 2 digits.. The letter is the type of barrel steel and the numbers are the original barrel length, A gun with K 28 is Krupp barrels, 28" long. T 30 is a Twist, 30" long, S 32 is a Fluid Steel 32" barrel amd D 26 is a 26" Damascus Barreled gun.. Hope this helps..JFC
 
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