doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Anti-American!

Yes, I'm aware it's damn near Anti-American to restore an old American double, but I don't care. I don't plan on ever selling my LC Smith Trap Grade. Since the stock isn't original, it made the decision even easier. The great thing is I actually shoot the damn thing pretty well, and I shoot it a lot! While I'm not a "shooter", I am a die hard bird hunter. IMO there is nothing better than shooting an American double in the US on public land. There is just something nostalgic about it. Here's a few pictures hunting Blues in CO over my Brittany with my LC Smith. Double guns are a sickness. You can't own just one!

[img]http://[IMG]http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc499/gttangen/IMG_3275_1.jpg[/img][/img] [img]http://[IMG]http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc499/gttangen/IMG_3278.jpg[/img][/img] [img:left][/img] [img:left][/img]

gt, you have a nice looking Elsie and its clear from your pics you know how to use it. Nothing UnAmerican about restoring a classic shotgun...Geo

For what ever it's worth:
I had a very early Grade III lightly restored a while ago and I'm glad I did it. The gun now looks infinitely better then it did prior to restoration and is now in useable condition again.
You're appears to be a real beauty!
Jim

That is a beautifully redone Elsie!!!!!!!!!!!! I would never sell that one either.

Where is that? If we had walk in limited small game only hunting lands in Georgia, I might attempt something other than a biannual canned plantation hunt.

Dan. I lived in GA the last 9 years. I'm glad to be back out West where there's massive amounts of public land that holds birds........ If I were you, I'd start putting in for points on the DiLane plantation quota hunt. We moved 7 coveys of bobs there last year with terrible conditions. Not ideal, but at least it's wild bird hunting on public land.

I live 22 miles from DiLane Plantation. I remember when it was privately owned, before the state owned it. Did you live near here before you moved back to the West?

SRH

Not really. I lived south of ATL. I did trial and hunt Dilane though. The Dilane quota hunts are the best shot at public land wild quail hunting in GA IMO.

I don't think what you did is anti American at all. You did it not to trick others but to make a valued gun look better. Like changing chokes or altering a stock it is your gun so do with it what you want. And doubles were built to be used not sit in a safe and gain value.

Beautiful job on that gun! You make me nostalgic for another time. I had a car wreck, actually 5 cars and a truck, and was dead for about 17 minutes before the medics shocked my heart back to beating. That was 11 months ago and though I am told it was a miracle I survived and a greater one that my brain rebooted. I may be hard to kill, but I can't walk without crutches and I am told I'll probably will always need them. I really liked bird hunting but it looks like I will be doing it through you guys. That's why I like the seeing the pictures so much.

Thanks

Pooch,

I am so glad that you survived that accident, and also that we have this internet means of communicating about out ventures afield. I will remember you when I think that nobody is interested in my hunts, and I will make an extra effort to take pics and write of them, for you. God bless you, and don't quit. You're not beaten until you do.

SRH

Thanks! That's the way I feel. you ain't dead until you quit. My dad loved his LC Smith. had to sell it to help the family. My dad was a better man then me, Ill always love an LC Smith.

They always say that.
It is what you believe.
Start walking after those birds & your legs will get the idea.
O.M

Get ready to kiss that public land goodbye.

Yes, we all recall when the last evil Republican Presidents took away Social Security, brought back slavery, took away women's rights to vote, took Medicare away from the elderly, lowered the minimum wage, and dirtied the environment...

... except for the fact that the Liberal Chicken Little's were wrong and none of that happened. But what really did happen was that the last several Democrat Presidents really did attempt to infringe upon our Constitutional rights by banning or attempting to ban semi-autos, lead ammunition, large capacity magazines, and enacting illegal registration via Universal Background Checks.

That is a real classic redo of a Smith. Give us some details of the restoration, if that is the correct word. My favorite Smith is awaiting a similar restoration that may never come. I enjoy it too much to give it up for months. By the way, I have been surviving without my hunting legs for about five years, but I am still working on my double guns, and, occasionally, buying more.

"Beautiful job on that gun! You make me nostalgic for another time. I had a car wreck, actually 5 cars and a truck, and was dead for about 17 minutes before the medics shocked my heart back to beating. That was 11 months ago and though I am told it was a miracle I survived and a greater one that my brain rebooted. I may be hard to kill, but I can't walk without crutches and I am told I'll probably will always need them. I really liked bird hunting but it looks like I will be doing it through you guys. That's why I like the seeing the pictures so much."

Pooch
Although the result of an unfortunate fall, and not an auto accident as in your situation, I can no longer get around in the fields well enough to hunt; as it seems the combined effects of age, polio from my youth, and that confounded broken femur will no longer permit my legs to work well at all! So I feel your pain; and like you, encourage all these guys to continue posting photos of their successes in the field. They bring a bit of joy to my heart, and often remind me of great days afield from years past. So many thanks to all you guys for taking the time to post those photos!

THANK you for sharing
A gun that is not usable is not of much hunting value
Well done
Mike

Topgun, just curious, did you have a Near Death Experience in those 17 minutes? If so, please tell us about it.
JR

I'm glad we got to do it when we could. I'm sorry your injury has done permanent damage. Keep hoping. I'm thinking I will walk again, though today is one of those bad days. I'm pretty sure I can use a walker to support me at a skeet range. That's probably going to be the extent of my shooting for a while

Very nice guns... and birds. Roughly where in CO were you hunting? Looks like high altitude parkland.

That was actually pooch, John, that said he was dead for 17 minutes and was resuscitated. Topgun was quoting him.

SRH

Sorry I didn't respond I missed your post, as far as my near death experience, I don't know a thing. I was out for about 8 weeks and dippy after that. All I know is what I have been told to me by my wife who was with me during the accident and the Drs. I was rescued quickly by the first responders, then put into a coma at the trauma center to save my brain and organs. My wife got some good Drs to do the operations which took about 16 hours and I spent the rest of the time sleeping. It is their belief that I am hard to kill. However it is my belief that, that day the Lord didn't want me and the devil didn't have any room.

Thanks Pooch, and Stan for getting me straight on who it was.
JR

There were funny things that happened also. The quick response by the police and medics, getting me quickly to a trauma center where they used this relatively new procedure of reducing my body temperature to throw me into a coma, all helped to save my brain. Pretty amazing stuff.

The real hero is my wife who kept a constant watch over me and kept me from further damaging myself. Even though I was out of it I kept trying to climb out of my bed. One time she came back into the room to find me stark naked, I had pulled out all the feed tubes and was covered with my own shit. All the alarm bells were going off. She said I looked like a Picasso master piece. Another time they gave me a tooth brush, which I couldn�t use. The nurse went to my wife and said �We are worried about your husband because he said the most terrible things to that tooth brush.� My wife said �He�s doing OK he often swears at inanimate things.�

We got to be on TV, but it was a short segment. I guess you have to die to get any real coverage. I kid the guys saying I was trying to die but you sonsabitchs wouldn�t let me.

The LC Smith with the Parker and in some occasions the Lefever were the only American guns that were duking it out with the top English guns in the live pigeon shoots during the turn of the century.

Got to love that!!!

To hear your guys stories makes a person realize how precious life is. I try every day not to take life for granted, but often still do. Stories like those help
A person stay grounded and realize what's important in life.

As far as the gun and the location go, the Smith was restored by Bill Schwarz in Elijay Georgia. I came across it by pure luck, and I absolutely love the gun..... I'm hunting East of the Rockies and West of the Appalachians! ;-). I got my other Brittany back from the trial circuit two weeks ago and got a chance to give her a whirl on blues Thursday. The extra dog power, and having most of the day to hunt really helped. I recovered 7 of my 8 bird limit, and unfortunately lost one. The way he ran off makes me believe he probably made it though. I called it a day once I had 7 in the bag.... The double gun addiction is a scary thing. As they say, the struggle is real!

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If I ever have to go on crutches, I'll still rifle hunt! Hang in there, fellows...

steve, you might like this true story. Years ago I was in Arkansas duck hunting with some friends. One was a former NFL running back for the Vikings from '66 thru '72. One of his teammates, a place kicker, was there. With him came a young fellow who was a gynecologist, his son-in-law I think. A few years earlier he (the gynecologist) was on honeymoon with his bride on one of the islands (Jamaica, Haiti, Bermuda, ???). One day they were in their room at the hotel when someone began trying to open the door, which was locked. This guy was in front of the door and telling the guy on the other side to go away. Guy on other side shoots several rounds through the door, hitting new groom. He was from that point on paralyzed from the waist down and, indeed, was in a wheelchair when I met him. They put him in a War Eagle boat the next day, transported him to a blind, and he killed ducks from his swivel seat. He also had a great outlook on his condition. He told us concerning his being wheelchair bound, "It ain't so bad in my line of work (gyn). It gets me down to where my work is at eye level."

As I said earlier, you ain't beat until you give up.

SRH

We are pretty fragile creatures and bad things can happen quickly. What I've gotten out of this is how pretty surroundings are and that I need to stop and enjoy them. Friends and dogs that care, are really important and I need to stop and tell them how special they are. My wife got mad and said she thought I would back from the dead a better person. I'm probably no better, I seem to cuss more, but things sure have changed.