Vulcan (Folsom) 12 ga double shotgun

Question
I recently bought a very old 12 ga sxs double shotgun marked Vulcan Arms Co, made by Folsom. It is a sidelock internal hammer gun , 30" barrels, M&F, in very good working condition but missing much of its blue. This gun shoots very well - it is actually easy to hit what I am at using it, and I have always been a terrible shotgunner.
My question: I have seen people refer to these Folsum guns as junk, but I have owned a lot of various old and new shotguns and this one seems as well made as any other. I bought it from a retired machinist/ginsmith who owns a gunshop who checked it before selling it, and I have fired it using low brass field loads. I'll use it for small game and birds.
Why do people seem intent on giving these old Folsom shotguns such a bad reputation when, to me, they deserve a lot better?
Sorry for the long question.

mark

Answer
Hi,

Vulcan Arms is the trade name used by HD Folsom Arms as you already mentioned. They owned several trade names that they manufactured weapons under and sold them to various chain stores. The reason these guns are known as "mantle guns" is because they were cheaply made for the most part as with most mass produced weapons of the time. The technology was not there and the quality of the gun went down when the number of guns produced went up.

With that said, some of the guns may have came out just as nice as anything you could expect from a older gun. I personally like the history and character that the old guns have. Some people are just hell bent on owning a "browning" or a "benelli", etc. Same as with a Ford man and a Chevy man, you will have some people that swear up and down that the ford f-150 is junk.. although they have never owned one.