An American Gun Company shotgun is an inexpensive side-by-side made by the Crescent Fire Arms Company of Norwich, Connecticut for H. & D. Folsom Arms Company of New York, sold under Folsom’s house brand from the 1890s into the 1930s. If one has turned up in a closet or at an estate sale, you’re holding a mass-market working gun rather than a fine collectible, and three questions matter: what is it, is it safe to fire, and what is it worth.
Who Actually Made It
H. & D. Folsom was a New York sporting goods wholesaler, importer, and distributor. Folsom owned Crescent Fire Arms outright from 1893 until selling the company to Savage Arms in 1930. Crescent did the manufacturing in Norwich; Folsom handled catalogs and distribution out of New York.
Crescent’s business was trade-name shotguns. The same basic gun went out the factory door stamped with hundreds of different brand names for different retailers and wholesalers, and researchers have identified well over 550 distinct trade names on Crescent-made shotguns. American Gun Company was one of Folsom’s own house brands. A gun with that rollmark is mechanically the same as one carrying a hardware-store brand you’ve never heard of.
Identifying What You Have
Most American Gun Company shotguns are side-by-side doubles with either exposed external hammers or a hammerless internal mechanism. Look for the brand name on the sidelock plates or along the center rib between the barrels. The most commonly encountered model within the line is the Knickerbocker.
Gauges include 12, 16, and 20, with some later production in 28 gauge and .410 bore. Barrel lengths run from 26 inches on smaller “Midget Field” versions to 30 inches on standard field guns. Stocks are American walnut, usually checkered at the grip, with a friction-fit or simple lever-release forend. Fit and finish is functional. These were built to be affordable and reliable enough for farm use, not to compete with fine doubles.
The single most important detail to check is the barrel material, both for dating and for safety.
- Damascus or twist steel barrels show a swirling pattern on the outside surface, created by forge-welding strips of iron and steel together. These are the earlier barrels.
- Fluid steel barrels have a smooth, uniform appearance with no patterning. These came later.
Proof marks tied to Crescent’s production sequences may appear on the underside of the barrels, though reading them takes some expertise.
Is It Safe to Shoot
This is where owners of these old guns most often get into trouble. Damascus and twist steel barrels were built for black powder shotshells. Modern smokeless ammunition generates roughly twice the chamber pressure of comparable black powder loads, and it builds that pressure faster. Firing a modern shell through a Damascus barrel risks a catastrophic failure, meaning the barrel splitting open near your hands and face.
Age makes it worse. A century of use, storage, and corrosion weakens barrel walls. Internal pitting invisible from the outside can create thin spots where failure is most likely.
Chamber length is a second trap. Many of these old shotguns have 2½-inch chambers. A 2¾-inch modern shell will physically fit, but when the crimp unfolds into the forcing cone it creates dangerous overpressure. Just because a shell chambers does not mean it is safe.
Practical guidance:
- If the barrels are Damascus or twist steel, treat the gun as a wall hanger. Experienced handloaders who understand pressure testing and have had barrel walls professionally measured sometimes shoot them, but the consensus among experienced collectors is that the risk rarely justifies the reward.
- If the barrels are fluid steel, the gun is a safer candidate for occasional shooting, but any firearm over a century old should be inspected by a qualified gunsmith first.
- Confirm the actual chamber length before buying any ammunition for it.
Replacement parts are effectively nonexistent. Crescent went out of business in 1930, so whatever condition the gun is in is what you’re stuck with.
Dating the Gun
Pinning down when a specific American Gun Company shotgun was built is harder than it should be, and the date carries real legal weight. Crescent’s factory records were lost or destroyed during a wartime scrap paper drive in 1943. There is no definitive serial-number-to-year chart from the manufacturer.
Researcher Joseph T. Vorisek reconstructed approximate serial number tables by taking the known production quantities of specific models and dividing them across the years those models were made. It’s a rough average, not a factory log. To use it you need the serial number, whether the gun is a single or double barrel, whether it has external hammers or is hammerless, and a record of all visible markings and their locations.
Crescent began production around 1892, so the earliest years of output fall on one side of an important legal line, while the vast majority, running through 1930, falls on the other. If you cannot establish the date with reasonable confidence, the safest assumption is that the gun is not an antique in the legal sense.
Federal Antique Firearm Status
Under the Gun Control Act of 1968, an “antique firearm” includes any firearm manufactured in or before 1898, along with certain replicas and muzzleloaders that don’t use conventional fixed ammunition.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions Federal law then defines “firearm” to exclude antique firearms, so the background check and transfer requirements that apply to “firearms” do not reach guns that qualify as antiques.
For an American Gun Company shotgun, that translates to a practical split:
- Made in 1898 or earlier: generally can be bought, sold, and shipped between private parties without a federal firearms license or background check under federal law.
- Made in 1899 or later: a “firearm” under federal law, transferred through the same channels as any other modern gun.
Violations of federal transfer requirements can carry penalties of up to ten years in prison under certain provisions.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
State law is a separate matter. Some states do not follow the federal antique exemption and regulate pre-1899 firearms the same as modern ones. Check your state’s rules before relying on antique status to buy or sell.
What It’s Worth
These were budget guns when new, and they remain modestly valued. Condition drives price. A gun with heavy rust, cracked wood, and missing parts might sell for under $200. A well-preserved example with strong original case coloring, intact markings, and sound wood can bring several hundred dollars. Fluid steel guns generally command more than Damascus-barreled ones, both because the barrel material is safer and because it indicates slightly later, more refined production.
The NRA’s antique firearm condition standards give the common vocabulary for grading:
- Fine: All original parts, over 30% original finish remaining, sharp lettering and design on metal and wood, minor marks in wood, good bore.
- Very Good: All original parts, up to 30% original finish, smooth original metal surfaces with sharp edges, clear lettering, wood slightly scratched or bruised.
- Good: Some minor replacement parts acceptable, metal may show smooth rust or light pitting, principal markings legible, wood may be refinished or show minor repairs, in working order.
Most surviving American Gun Company shotguns fall in the Good to Very Good range. Fine condition is uncommon, because these were working guns used hard in the field.3NRA Museums. Evaluating Firearms Condition
Collector interest tracks the story more than the shooting qualities. Complete markings, original woodwork, and any documented connection to a specific retailer or region add interest in the secondary market. What you’re selling, in the end, is a piece of a vanished retail era, not a shooter.