How rare are 32" barrels on a 20 ga. field grade L.C. Smith?

I own a Trap Grade ejector 20g with 32" barrels. I've seen one or two others.

Chuck H, you are a lucky fellow. How much drop does the stock have?

The Cody Firearms Museum can give you that information, and research your gun, for a fee
http://www.lcsmith.org/shotguns/search.html

KMM,
I found the gun with the original stock chopped to about 12"LOP. So, I had a guy in Oregon machine a stock to my builtup pattern and head it up. I was so disappointed with his work that I put it away for a couple years. I should pull it out and finish it. In the scheme of things it's not all that bad, especially for the money. You get what you pay for.... It will finish up nicely, but the inletting is just so, so. Glass bedding took care of his sins which mostly won't show. It's a really nice piece of feather black. It'll make a heck of a nice SD phez gun or for an occasional round of sporting clays.

Abner,

I don't know how rare they are, but, if you have one, there are a least two.

Hairy

It seems there were only 7 32" barreled 20 ga. L.C.'s made from Olympic Grade to A-3. From 1907-1918 After that the only breakdown would be the Cody Museum. There was 1 A-2 out of 200 total guns made, 2 Premiers out of 28 guns made, 2 Monograms out of 128 total in the first serial number series, and 2 out of 138 made in the second series serial numbers. No Deluxes, Grown Grades and Olympic Grades with a 20 ga. 32" barrels. Also there are no 16 ga. 32" barrels in any of those grades.
So no matter what grade you have, you are lucky to have one. It's hard enough finding a 32" barrel in a Field Grade.
In Chuck H. area in the 20's there was a gun club in the bay area I believe that specilized in 20 ga 32" barreled guns.
Revdocdrew knows the name of the club, it slipped my mind.

A couple were the Widgeon (which ordered a number of 3" chambered 20s from Parker) and DuBray. Interesting reading
http://www.gunsandhunting.com/MakingMagnums.html

I believe my gun is a '20s gun. My CRS is acting up again. It's proofed 2 3/4" Nitro (NP) and has the extra wide bottom filler between the forend lug and watertable on the barrels.

From what I've seen in my years of looking I'd say that Parker Bros. made the most 32-inch 20-gauges, followed by L.C. Smith a distant 2nd place. 20-gauge Ansley H. Fox and Ithaca doubles with 32-inch barrels seem to be really few and very far between. A few years ago at the winter Las Vegas show I looked at six different 32-inch barrel Parker Bros. 20-gauges, a Crown Grade L.C. Smith and a Grade 4E NID with all the options.

Thanks for the information, I found a 32" barrelled field grade 20 guage Smith, and it was the first 20 ga. I had seen with long barrels. The seller said it was a "squirrel gun". I understand the trap with the long barrels, but not the field grade---may have been a light duck gun.

A local friend has a 34" 20 Ga LC Ideal grade.

That 34" has to be a very rare gun.

Chuck does your barrel bottom have this type of re-inforcement.

This is from a Field Grade Longrange Wildfowl gun 3" chambered, 32" barrels.

The Trap Grade was introduced in 1913 until 1939. It has on the side plates, men lined up at the traps and a sportsman in the field on the other. On the right barrel will be L.C. Smith Trap Grade.
In 1920 they came out with a double barrel trap gun in Specialty, Eagle, Crown and Monogram. It came with a Beavertail Fore end, Hunter One-Trigger and ejectors. The only way to tell this gun apart from the others is that they usually stamped a "T" on the water tables but not in all cases. The only real way to tell is to check the stock measurements as they would be different than other guns, drop at comb, straighter stock, etc.
Nitro proffing started in the 20's. on Smith guns

Pete, tell your friend to get a letter from Cody, indeed that would be a rare gun, especially in a 20 ga.

JDW,
Yes, it's a similar fillet reinforcement.

Some more pics. The action has some etching from light rust. Someday, I'll redo the action. The watertable does indeed have the " T ". According to my gold embossed, leatherbound, guilded page, superduper wizzbang LC Smith Houchins reference, my gun is a 1930 gun.

Often times people mis understand the meaning Trap gun as it pertains to L.C. Smith guns. THey made a Trap Grade gun from 1913-1939. This gun is not necessarily a "trap" gun, it just refers to it's grade and it has the single man on the right side plate shooting at a flying bird, while the left plate has a group of men shooting a clay bird thrown from a Trap house.

On the water table the "T" will be there to indicate the grade of "Trap". As referenced earlier, in late 1919 and 1920, Hunter Arms offered a Double barrel Trap Package, which could be ordered on Speciality Grades up to Monogram Grades. So any of these Grade guns could have the "trap package", which mean a special beavertail forend and the Hunter selective one trigger. I personally believe that lower grades could have been special ordered with this package as well as it's a known fact if you could pay for it, Hunter Arms would make you anything you wanted.

This Trap package was dropped in 1925 as a special package. From that time on, the options that were once offered in the special trap package deal were now standard equipment on such guns.

As mentioned before in some of my posts I am currently doing a very in-depth study on the 1919-1925 Double Barrel Trap package guns offered by Hunter Arms. I hope to be able to prove with exact info provided by Cody on how many guns were ordered with the Double barrel trap package option in that time. I hope with this research we can finally be able to prove or disprove some theories floating around about these guns. I should have this data soon and I will share my findings as well as a future article on the subject.

I will again ask that if any one has a L.C. Smith made from 1919 through 1925 that has a longer than normal Beavertail forend to contact me as I may have some specific data on your gun. I would also like to exchange info on the gun's configuration to add to my research database on the subject.

Chuckster: is that a 'Crown over D' on the left brl just forward of the flat?!



That is the mark of Jean-Baptiste Delcour-Dupont/Canons Delcour S.A. (barrel production) of Nessonvaux, and I've only seen it on Field grade guns. Can you post an ultra close-up of the mark for the 'LC Smith Barrel Marks' album? Thanks!

RDD,
It sure looks like a crown over a D.

Many thanks Chuck!! I already put your gun on the 'Extraordinary LCs' album
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery.fcgi?p=999&gid=16694621

I would say any SXS with 32" barrels is getting pretty rare these days. If it isn't cut off for a cowboy shooter then it would be rare just because they are hard to find in 20 gauge and 32" barrels. If you want it, you had better grab it if it is nice shape. Good luck.

I'm with Jimmy, a 20g w/32" bbls is a seldom seen gun in the American vintage guns, regardless of whether field or graded.