doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Help With L C Smith Re-Assembly

BBmans technique is the one shown to me by a gunsmith named John Miller in the Marlin repair dept in the early 70's. He had been with the company since well before WW2. I will only add that the handle end of the screw driver (with the notch in the blade) was placed against his stomach with the blade set against the punch. The punch had been set into place of course already, the trigger plate screws set down enough to draw the plate into light contact with the spindle of the top lever. This left both hands completely free. He gave the driver handle a gentle nudge pushing the spindle over and with his hands and thumbs pushed down on the plate snapping it into position and if needed pushed the top lever back upwards a bit with a hand in the assembly. The punch used was a 'pin' punch, largest diameter able to enter the screw hole. He had an entire drawer full of LCS 'tools' and was the only one in the repair dept that was entrusted with disassembly/reassembly of any vintage LCS that came in. Most that did were turned down for any work anyway for lack of parts but the Col. wanted to see each and every one that came in no matter what grade or vintage!

Another reason that I dont own any LC Smiths. I nearly had to start on Prozac after my experience.

I had really bad flash-backs when I saw this string.... Russ guided me through his C-clamp solution... It worked great...I will think twice....er...10 times before I think about pulling another one off....,<chuckle>

Of all the ones I have. There are only 2 that I have not taken fully apart, one is a 1895 Quality 2 and the other one is a 1927 Field Grade that had a crack running from the side plate to the tang. Someone had it apart to fix it and I haven't taken it off.
You fellows make it sound like it is a hard job. One of the hard things about it is that you have to make sure the safety push rod hasn't fallen out, and to make sure the safety link falls in the right space in the safety, or else you will be taking it apart again.
In putting The Hunter One-Trigger back, sometimes tightening the screws a 1/2 turn either way can make it not work correctly.

The "Holy Grail" of shotguns.


I'll take all the ones you don't want.

Here's a picture for those unfamiliar with this problem: The screw hole is out of alignment and the top lever part is under extreme pressure:

Not to get off the subject Jim, but yours is the 3rd gun I have seen that has the wood problem on both sides of the trigger housing. I have a LongRange Wildfowl that has the same wood problems, not soft, looks like it was burned, but not. Not oil either.

Getting back to your problem. If you have a drill press then drilling the hole for the c clamp shouldn't be hard. My table happens to move left-right, and tilt. I just clamped the c clamp on the edge of the table and moved the table to the right and lined up the center punch mark on the top jaw and aligned the drill bit to it and drilled it out. I just did one a half hour ago on a new c clamp that I bought that has a button to quickly adjust the jaw. I used a 3/32" piece of drill rod and drilled a #43 drill (.089)and pressed the drill rod into the hole. The pin does nt have to be centered perfectly on the jaw becasue it is not coming in contact with the other moveable jaw.
I wish I had one apart to show you, but some of the pictures of the clamp and other pictures are on the L.C. Smith site that I submitted. The one with the big hole for the alignment is not mine, I only drill a 3/16" hole in mine.
If you cannot make the clamp, email me with your address and I will make one for you for future guns. Don't let this small obstacle stop you.

JDW:
Your email isn't in your profile so please email me.
italianstallion@cox.net
This is speculation on my part but I think the wood has gotten overheated over the years and actually scorched. I agree it isn't oil.
Here's a better (lighter) picture of the problem for everyone.




Thanks
Jim

It helps to cry a little.

Send me you email address and I can forward (in pdf) an article about disarming the 3 position safety that includes a very simple method of holding that spring compressed during reassembly....michael.orlen@verizon.net

Boy this has NOT been my project. I managed to get the gun re-assembled but now the safety doesn't work. I expect I don't have it installed properly so how do I correct this?
Never mind I got it. I just want to thank all of you for your help with this. The reason for the dis-assembly was to install one of Galazans extended recoil pads to get the stock back to a reasonable length. I have accomplished this and the gun is now usable again with that unsightly butt extension just a bad memory.
Jim