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Hi folks, I'm new here! I have a question for some of you who are more knowledgeable than me with old shotguns. What I have is an old single break barrel Meriden Arms shotgun. Thats the only info it has on the gun itself, in doing research I found it was pretty old indeed. Now on many websites they are advising against shooting this gun, something I wish I had seen 4 yrs ago when I bought it. Yes, I have been shooting it for 4 yrs now with no problems, but I just read that they cannot handle today's shells and may easily fail. What can you folks tell me about this? Should I stop shooting this gun and perhaps just purchase a more modern one? Or am I ok to continue using it as long as I keep using light load shells? I would sincerely appreciate any insight you have, big thanks.

I don't know if this helps at all but in looking for a serial number or anything, I did find the numbers 3464 when I broke the barrel open. Anyone know anything about that as well? I am highly curious about this gun. Again thank you!

If you have the slightest doubt that this gun is safe, stop using it until you are satisfied that it is safe to shoot. Your best course of action is to have it examined by a competent gunsmith who is familiar with this type of gun. We cannot see your gun, we can't see what condition it is in nor how it has been maintained, nor do we know what types of ammunition you've been shooting or how often. Have it professionally examined, and then either continue shooting it carefully, sell it or hang it on the wall.

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Well Yeah, stop shooting it. Buy a new gun, and put the other on the wall, well oiled.

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Your gun was made by the Meriden Fire Arms Company (which incidentally was owned by Sears Roebuck & Co) sometime between 1905 and 1918 and was designed for the ammunition in use at the time which was either black powder or early low pressure smokeless powder. It was not designed for more modern high pressure smokeless powder ammo and certainly not 3 inch magnum shells or steel shot. I have a large collection of such guns and will not shoot any of them. I strongly suggest you retire your gun to a place of honor in the gun cabinet or on the wall and buy a modern replacement.

KCGUY,

Clearly the safest course is to never fire your shotgun again.

However, some of us regularly shoot shotguns made 100 years ago -- and we still have all our fingers. The gun is unlikely to blow apart, since you have previously fired it. If you want to fire it from time to time, you might want to use either Winchester AA Low Recoil or NOBLE low recoil loads; as they are slightly less powerful and initiate less stress.

I shot a round of skeet last week with an L.C. Smith made in 1892.

gold40

Low recoil does not inherently mean low pressure... keep that in mind.

I would not continue shooting a Meriden Arms shotgun unless it was some extreme sentimental reason and then only occassionally with special reloads, like black powder. If it did have sentimental value I would probably rather not take a chance on it failing, but put it on the wall. Just my opinion.

I know of a W W Greener made about 1869 with Damascus barrels that was used with smokeless loads, including heavy duck loads, until the mid 1960s. It would rattle like a 59' Ford and spit gas in your face but it never failed. I wouldn't shoot it today with black powder loads but it probably would not fail!

To me the Meriden is not as well made (metal quality) as something like an L C Smith, Fox or even the old Greener. Just don't trust that old steel.

To all of you that answered, I greatly appreciate it. I will indeed retire that old gun to the wall. I guess that gives me a good excuse to go out and buy a new one .