The Gibraltar was made by Sears' subsidiary company, Meriden Fire Arms, from about 1905-1915 and later by J. Stevens Arms.
The Gibraltar line of shotguns was made for Sears & Roebuck. More information about them is readily available via the internet.
It was built by Stevens between 1904 & 1932. Sears had it listed in the 1933 catalog.
Shotguns sold by Sears through years were made by many different manufacturers. It is very difficult to determine value because of the many variables.
Gibraltar - 1938 is rated/received certificates of: Finland:K-16 West Germany:16
ITs along story .583 21 Was a Sears only gun made exclusively by them , and Sears owned the pattent and High Standard manufacturing who only made shotguns for Sears back in those days (your gun was made in 1952)These are Known as the J C Higgins Model 10 these are still very good shotguns though somewhat old fashioned very good all the same
Sears distributed Ranger shotguns from several manufacturers. In this case a serial number won't help, but model information is required
You will need to supply the serial numbers to your shotguns to get the age of your browning shotguns correctly.
It's not SEARS & ROEBUCK. According to Ron Gable's website, Henry Sears & Company were gun makers and dealers in Chicago Illinois from 1872 to 1892. http://www.sportingcollectibles.com/misc.html is offering a 16-page catalog from the company dated May 1, 1880, for $195.
I can say that Browning started having shotguns made in 16 gauge in the year 1909.Winchester started having the model 12 shotguns made in 16 gauge in the year 1914.so I would surmise that the time frame of 1909-1915 would be the correct time frame for the introduction of the 16 gauge shotguns.
The JC Higgins 583.24 is a bolt-action shotgun made by High Standard for Sears in 1954/1955. It should have an adjustable choke. Value on bolt-action shotguns is minimal, around $100-$125.
On the internet.
Yes, they were made.