I have a rare 1872 high grade single shot 8 gauge light waterfowl gun by W. C. Scott and Sons. It came from the original owners home which was in Boston. My research revealed that Read was the exclusive importer for Scott, a deal that had only recently been put in place. A copy of the 1872 Scott catalog had several positive reviews of the Scott guns from the US, a lot of them from the midwest and by trapshooters. These all quoted Read as the source of their guns. They apparently had a good share of the relatively high end import market across the country at one time. Their catalogs of the later 19th century were large and listed all types of sporting goods. I believe the guns marked by them were contract guns. Their high end imports were marked by the maker.
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