CZ: The folks at DGJ asked if they could combine the other research concerning only the company and people involved (they could not alot any more pages) and I agreed, as I knew and respected the researcher; but the result was to diminish my work, so I was not happy with the end result. Although I don't recall the ad to which you refer, it seems that the vast majority of SAC ads and catalogs I've seen show artist depictions of guns as opposed to pics of actual guns. But later catalogs did use depictions of actual guns to include serial numbers in a few instances, and I've located the actual D Grade gun that was featured in the 1903 and 1904 catalog. I've also located what I believe to be the actual SAC prototype gun featured in early City of Syracuse directory ads. At any rate, if you go to eBay and review Item #90036871024 you will see an ad for a late model Grade 3 SAC gun. Late Model Grade 3 guns look almost identical to Grade A guns, and differ in appearance a great deal from early Grade 3's because of the extra stock treatment given later Grade 3's.
As to engraving, some Grade 3 guns feature deeply cut engraving and others don't; the best engraved Grade 3 I've seen was a factory presentation Grade 3 presented to shooter H.D. Kirkover in June, 1900, the engraving cuts on this gun were extremely well executed.
If you find a twenty bore with the engraving you describe, you will have found an "A-1 Special Trap Grade"; I can count the A-1's I've found on one hand, and only one of those was a 20-bore (which now resides in NJ). You may look a long time and never find an example; but the one I saw was not nearly the best engraved A-1 out of the few examples I've seen.
I enjoy finding unusual SAC guns, and the last Grade B SAC gun I found was one such piece. It is a 1901 vintage "second model" B Grade that is is terrible need of restoration; but later Grade B guns feature a dog on each side of the frame, whereas early Grade B guns were fully engraved with line, scroll, and fancy border work. This example was special ordered with the dog on the left side of the frame pointing back towards the shooter, as opposed to the normal position of pointing towards the muzzles. It was also ordered without an ebony fore end tip (only such example I've seen), although the fore end tip wood itself is shaped as per standard. This gun also has one other very very unusual/"one off" feature; it's pistol grip features the standard Grade B "S" carved treatment, but the owner of this gun ordered his PG capped so that it featured a bakelite cap carved and fitted to the "S" shaped PG contour.
