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#341746 10/16/13 12:12 PM
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Gt1900 Offline OP
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With a new baby at home and not a lot of extra cash laying around, I had put my search for a nice LC Smith on hold. But last week a nice little 20GA Trap Grade with 26in barrels and the Hunter one trigger, basically fell into my lap. At the end of the day, I couldn't say no to this rare little Elsie. There ist much case color or bluing left, and the stock is a replacement from Fajen, but besides that, the gun is in really nice condition. The bores are mirror and they don't seem to have ever been honed. As of now, the gun is no longer a true collector because of the stock, so I plan on shooting it. I'm also not looking an the gun as an investment. I don't plan on ever selling it and I plan to hand the gun down to a son or daughter some day that will appreciate it as much as me.

With that said, Id like to bring the gun back to life and have it restored. I'm also thinking about lengthening the bore to 2 3/4 so I can shoot modern loads if I had to. I'm going to take the gun to Bill Schwarz in Ellijay GA for an inspection before I shoot it, and will probably have him do the restoration work as well. Does anyone see any issues with my idea? Again, I'm not worried about getting my money out of the gun since I'm going to kep it, and based on what I've seen, even with what I payed for the gun, plus restoration, I will come out no worse than even.

Thanks

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A Trap Grade 20 gauge is a nice gun. There were 348 20 ga. Trap guns made, 130 with 26" barrels. With a Hunter One Trigger, 122. I'm sure it must have ejectors and they made 284 of those. I would check to see what the constriction is as most shipped from the factory were full/full unless specified different.

Myself, I would not open up the chambers as there are plenty of 2 1/2" shells to choose from. This also decreases the amount of metal in an area where the pressure is the highest. If the gun is on the light side, the difference in weight came from striking the barrels.


David


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I agree with JDW that you should not lengthen the chamber.

You can easily obtain 2.5 inch shells. Further reloading for it is a piece of cake. It either with cut down 2.75 hulls roll crimped or with a press set up to fold crimp the 2.5 trimmed hulls. You can use 2.75 data in a cut down roll crimped hull.

I have found that a cheap drill press from Harbor Freight and the Precision reloading shell vice work well together as does the drill press with no shell vice at all.

You will find that once you get the feel for it roll crimping is an extremely satisfying business.


Michael Dittamo
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Gt, I would agree with the above posters about not lengthening the chambers. I have done it on a few guns and now sincerely regret doing it.

Additionally, I would add that whoever you take it to should be well familiar with what doing a quality restoration entails. I'm not familiar with Bill Swarwtz, but that doesn't mean anything about his skill level. Just as you have done here now, you might bounce any work you are considering off the members here.


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First visit the LC Smith Collector site. It is a great resource
http://www.lcsmith.org/

Now to the question of overall restoration.

Before you restore you must carefully evaluate the gun.

The gunsmith must check the barrels for minimum wall thickness (as a general rule I believe that a 20 gauge gun should have .025, if less than this you may want to spend your money elsewhere or stick to low pressure loads only)(low pressure is not a war stopper but less than .020 is)
http://www.parkerguns.org/pages/faq/BarrelThickness.htm

The barrels must be checked to ensure the gun is on face (check this by removing the forend and see if there is any movement in the barrels on the receiver)

Is there sideways movement between the barrel and receiver with the gun open?

If an ejector gun the ejectors must be checked for timing (if they properly work)(check with either snap cap or already fired shells, see if they properly eject when one or the other chamber is fired and when both are fired and if they throw the spent hulls about the same distance and place)

The Hunter One Trigger (HOT) is a good trigger when working. It needs to be checked both dry firing (with snap caps or spent hulls) and with live shells. It needs to be checked with first right then left then left then right. It further must be checked with live ammo.

Check does the trigger pull feel correct for you

Check the operation of the safety (remember snap caps-spent shells)



Is the top lever right of center? Left of center suggests a worn rotating bolt. Does the top lever stay in the open position when the gun is open? Does it snap to the closed position forcefully?

The condition of the stock must be looked at carefully for cracks at the end of the locks (probably not likely on a quality restock but look at it carefully) With the locks off look at the angle of the wood around the locks

If the stock needs a refinish or recut of checkering go for it, but only if very worn. It is probably not worth trying to make an old gun too new, but that is ultimately a matter of taste.

Hold back on stock refinish and alterations until you have shot it some to determine if it fits you properly, if you need to change something it is beetter to do it all at once.

Consider getting an LC Smith Cocking tool
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=341751&#Post341751

Lastly understand that one rarely breaks even, or makes money on a restoration even if your objective is not to sell.

Last edited by old colonel; 10/16/13 02:27 PM.

Michael Dittamo
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Gt1900 Offline OP
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Thanks guys. This is the info I'm looking for. I want to make sure I have all the info I can so I don't make a bad decision. I really wanted one with 28in barrels and a double trigger, but this gun is a Trap Grade, which swayed me. As far as restoring the gun, I would get more personal satisfaction out of owning a beautifully restored gun than an original, which this gun isn't anyways due to the aftermarket stock.

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Schwarz seems to know what he's doing.

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Although a "shooter grade", this is a relatively rare LC Smith model/gauge/feature combination as David has pointed out; and on a gun such in this condition, restocking is an acceptable, although most likely not a cost efective alternative. If you do restock I suggest you put the replacment stock back to the original "factory look"; and by that I mean duplicating the orginal stock shape, comb profile, checkering patterns, recoil pad, grip cap, butt plate, etc. And when you restock use American black walnut, as that was the specie stock wood Hunter used on this model; and with a Trap Grade, you can use as fancy a figured piece of crotch figured walnut as you wish and still be consistent with what Hunter originally furnished on this grade. The beauty of having the gun restocked is that you can have the new stock made to fit your personal shooting dimensions/style; and you can convert the grip from straight to pistol and/or vice versa, just make sure the trigger guard strap is correctly lengthened and/or contoured and engraved.


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