I posted this new acquisition(L C Smith Grade 3) earlier but I have decided to repair it to the point of putting it back into shooting condition.
It really just needs the top lever fixed and still locks up tight. Can anyone recommend a gunsmith capable of doing this hopefully in Arizona? If not I'll go ahead and ship it.
Jim

I understand the hassle of shiping plus the added expense, but you won't regret sending the gun to Jerry Andrews. The stock is coming off to fix the top lever so he can glasbed the action at the same time. You REALLY, REALLY want to have the stock glassed before you start shooting it. I'll bet his turn around will be faster than someone locally, too. Think of someone you know or you've met who is sort of a "geek" about one particular thing. That's Jerry regarding the LC Smith shotgun.

Jim: the top lever is waaaaay left, and the rib extension does not appear to be fully seated in the slot. Someone may have pounded on the extension to 'tighten' the action, and the repair may not be easy. And yes, the head of the stock will need attention.
As yet you don't know if the barrels as usable, which is step 1-9 before putting money into the gun.

Drew:
The barrels are very clean with no real signs of pitting. Additionally there are no dents. Even with the top lever in this condition there's no play whatsoever between the barrels and the action. I just re-examined the gun and the rib extension is fully seated in the slot. It must be the picture as the barrels were dangling off the edge of the counter when I took it.

Jawjadawg:
Would you please provide me with Jerry Andrews contact information.
Thanks to both of you.
Jim

Jim, Jerry Andrews is a highly regarded L.C. Smith gunsmith. Here's his address and phone number:

Jerry Andrews, 1255 Grandview Rd., Moundsville, WV
26041 (304)-843-1740

He never did any work for me, but I bought a couple doubles from him. Nice guy. Buck Hamlin in Pevely, Mo. is another guy whose name comes up when it comes to repairing and restoring L.C. Smiths. His address and phone is:

Buck Hamlin
8501 Cedar Trail
Pevely MO 63070
(636) 479-4304

Here's a link to a page of gunsmith reccomendations on the L.C. Smith site;

http://members.boardhost.com/lcsmith/msg/1419987871.html

Of course, we have all seen how Ed handles the problem of a shotgun with a left-of-center top lever. You just photograph it with the gun only partially closed. Your gun looks like it could use some nice pretty torch colors too!

Wall thickness Jim. "Very clean" likely means honed in a gun that has had that much use.

Drew:
I really doubt these barrels have ever been honed. Since no other work was apparently ever done; I can't imagine the owner ever touching the barrels. The gun show a lot of years of use but not any abuse. I suspect whoever shot it all these years very meticulously cleaned the barrels but that was about it.
However; I will have whoever fixes the top lever check the barrel wall thickness as well just to be on the safe side.
Jim

take it in and get it evaluated by a knowledgeable smith ..if the barrels check out ok..get an estimate on adjusting the actions lockup and fixing and bedding the stock.....keep us posted on the project....

https://www.facebook.com/jerry.andrews.902?fref=ts

This is Jerry's facebook page.......

If you send your L C Smith to Mark Beasland he and his friends can take care of all of the problems that your L C Smith number 3 has......Mark has a friend who is a precision micro welder......http://www.mbabllc.com/page/page/7927803.htm ........Here are some before and after pictures of an L C Smith rebuild......

Thanks for the info Jent and that looks like a very professional repair. However, I get an error when I try to link to the page in your last post.
Jim

Try looking up Mark's Born Again Birdguns on google ...... that should work ...... Jent

I just returned from Wm. Larkin Moore's shop where Dan Moore kindly looked over this Smith and measured the barrel wall thickness. The right barrel measured .o4o minimum and measured .o34 at the choke. The left barrel measured .044 minimum and .040 at the choke. The bottom line is the barrel are in excellent shootable condition.
In Dan Moore's opinion; the gun could be put back into good overall useable condition by just repairing the stock** and top lever. The rib extension does seat perfectly and the gun is only very slightly off face per Dan.
I am weighing my options as to whether to get the repairs done or sell this Grade III Smith to someone who would get some use out of it as I probably would not get a lot of use out of it myself.
**The stock is not broken thru there appears to be one small screw in it and his recommendation was to just get it patched
Jim

What did Dan measure at the end of the chamber and 9" from the breech Jim?

Drew:
I just posted the dimensions Dan wrote down which he said were minimum and his overall assessment that the barrels are in great condition and are perfectly safe to shoot with proper ammunition.
He used a device he has set up permanently on a workbench to do these measurments.
I was just there this afternoon and I know you two know each other so give him a call if you have questions.
Jim