doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com L.C.Smith Ideal Grade-Trap Model

Recently saw an example that apparently dates to 1950 and was in near/possibly, unfired condition, 100% everything. Was curious how close this was to the end of production and what the final serial numbers might be for this model. Any info appreciated.

Terry,

The L.C. Smith Gun Company, subsidiary of Marlin Firearms Company made 3,829 Ideal Grade L.C. Smith Shotguns of all gauges from May 27, 1946 to June 19, 1950....Beginning with serial number FWS 1 and ending in serial number FWS 56,800......

They completed another 121 Ideal Grade guns early on after acquiring the company out of receivership, already serial numbered from stock on hand......Those 121 guns were made from December 21, 1945 through January 19, 1948 and had a different serial number sequence, From serial number 202,968 to serial number 206,909.

The Ideal Grade has an "I" marked with the serial number on the water table.

Terry, is it the gun in Logan, Iowa.....serial number FWS 26,XXX.....?.....If so, serial range FWS 26,XXX would have been made in 1948. There was no factory Ideal Grade "trap gun". This gentleman is calling it a trap gun because of the raised rib in his own words, which most L.C. Smiths, of all gauges, had after 1939 to the end of production.

The factory called the raised rib the "Single Sighting Plane Rib" in response to the ever more popular pump and automatic single barrel shotguns of the time.

If you purchase the gun and want a nice accurate factory letter I recommend the Cody Firearms Museum where all the original factory ledgers and serial number information has been housed for many years. Membership not required.

Cody Firearms Museum Records Office - 307-578-4031....Fax - 307-578-4079.... Monday thru Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. MST - web site: ... centerofthewest.org/explore/firearms/firearms-records/

email: cfmrecords@centerofthewest.org


Hope this helps.

Sources: Brophy's L.C. Smith Shotguns and Houchins L.C. Smith "The Legend Lives".....

Hi PA24,
Thanks for the info. My knowledge and reference material on Smiths is pretty sad. This is a different gun. The serial no. is S-560xx

The latest surviving Ideal listed on the L. C. Smith site is serial 47656 dated December 14, 1949. The highest surviving serial they show is a Field grade 56314 dated January 23, 1950, but they also show a The L. C. Smith site shows a Premier Skeet grade, serial 54449 dated May 24, 1950, as the latest Fulton factory gun to leave the factory they know of. You'll probably need to request a research letter to see if your gun is the last Ideal grade produced. Unless it is a .410, it is highly unlikely; search their forum, and you will find that the last two or three Ideals were .410s. A search of the L. C. Smith site's forum reveals there is at least a surviving Ideal .410, serial 56660. Your Smith may yet be either the last known surviving serial of its gauge and/or the last Ideal of its gauge to be shipped from the factory. The easiest path would be to join the L. C. Smith Collectors Association and then email them asking that they check for you. It's always nice to discover something unique about your latest purchase: I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks Doug and Emmet. As you said, I guess the raised,flat pigeon style rib with center bead and the large beavertail forend were the reason for the "trap" description.It also has a Hawkins pad that looked very original? The S- designation was on the triggerguard. Does it have any significance? Now that my curiosity has been piqued I may have to check the factory records....

HEY- DON'T FEEL BAD- SOME SCHMUCK had a 1896 LC Smith Grade 1 with Twist Steel 28" barrels and the first series rotary joint check-extractor design listed on Guns 'N Roses auction site as a Trap Grade- with ejectors- why, because it had an earlier Trap marked LC Smith buttplate- that Smith was no more a Trap Grade- which came out in post 1913 era and was between an Ideal Grade and a Specialty Grade than I am Vald Putin-

Hi Terry:

The 'S' engraved on the trigger guard behind the single screw as a prefix to the serial number would be standard up to the end of production on the graded guns .....The 'S' signifies it was built by the Marlin owned L.C. Smith Gun Company after December 1945.

The butt pads could be ordered on special order guns or added by the retailer per customer specifications, which was commonly done. A Factory letter from Cody costs $70.00 USD and is well worth the investment in my opinion.

When Marlin took over L.C. Smith in December 1945, the Ideal Grade sold for $67.00 USD, when the factory closed in 1950 the Ideal Grade sold for $138.00 USD.

Sounds like you found a nice gun, I hope you can work out a deal and make it your own.

Best Regards,

**According to the books, the "Trap Option" was only available on certain grade guns and was only offered for certain years.........

You could order the Trap Option on any grade. It consisted of a ventilated rib, twin ivory beads, beavertail for-end and recoil pad. A letter from the LCSCA will give you all the information that they gun came with. The price for a non-member is $70.00, member $50.00
Your serial number indicates it was made in 1950 when production ended. They made 131 in 1950.

The Trap Grade butt plate started in Syracuse in 1886-7 and was put there to tell all that their guns were good at the traps as well as in the field. It was just a marketing ploy.