Any info on an old double barrel Ruso shotgun?

[Doug Smotherman]

I have a old Ruso 12ga double barrel in very good shape for an old gun. I've had it for a 7 or 8 years and never shot it or looked up its value. It has Ruso H S B & Co Chicago on the size.

[mamohr686]

The Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett and Co. of Chicago were sporting goods dealers from 1855 to the 1960's.HSB were the largest and best-known of the pre-1914 hardware distributors. This business also sold guns and ammunition. The Crescent Fire Arms Company manufactured shotguns marked with the trade name "RUSO" that were sold by HSB & Co.

Crescent Fire Arms Company - Previous manufacturers and trademarks manufactured circa 1888-1931 in Norwich, CT.

In 1888, George W. Cilley bought out the defunct Bacon Arms Co. of Norwich, CT. He then formed an alliance with Frank Foster, and borrowed enough money to form the Crescent Fire Arms Company. Cilley and Foster each held several firearms patents, and both were highly qualified in firearms design and manufacture. Production began with single shot tip-up shotguns that had an external side hammer. Double barrel shotgun production was started in 1891. In 1893, they began making bicycle chains, and that same year, H&D Folsom took over the company's financial control. Early in the 1890s, Crescent built a rifle that resembled the Remington No. 4. A very rare Crescent was the .410 bore shotgun pistol, which was introduced in the 1920s. In 1929, N.R. Davis Firearms Co., then owned by Warner Arms Corp., merged with Cresent to become Crescent-Davis Arms Co. Because of financial crisis, business continued to decline, and they were forced to sell out. Savage Arms Co. acquired Davis-Cresent in 1931, assembled guns from the remaining parts, and these guns were sold under the Crescent name only. In 1932, the city of Norwich, CT, took over the Crescent property for non-payment of back taxes. After the Norwich facility was closed, manufacture was moved to Chicopee Falls.

Over 100 different trademarks have been observed to date, manufactured by Crescent. Almost all the remaining specimens today are priced as shooters and have no collector value.

I searched a few firearm websites, and this is what I came up with. I can't take the credit but I hope it helps.