As the Nineteeth century closed, the era of expensive, graded hammer shotguns was coming to an end. Things could not have looked good to the Hunter Brothers when they considered the future of their hammer shotgun line in 1897. In 1896, the Hunter Arms Company made 828 hammer guns compared to 2,555 hammerless. Morevover, sales were spread amoung seven models, ranging from Quality A A at $300 to Qualify F at $55.