Terry,
The L.C. Smith Gun Company, subsidiary of Marlin Firearms Company made 3,829 Ideal Grade L.C. Smith Shotguns of all gauges from May 27, 1946 to June 19, 1950....Beginning with serial number FWS 1 and ending in serial number FWS 56,800......
They completed another 121 Ideal Grade guns early on after acquiring the company out of receivership, already serial numbered from stock on hand......Those 121 guns were made from December 21, 1945 through January 19, 1948 and had a different serial number sequence, From serial number 202,968 to serial number 206,909.
The Ideal Grade has an "I" marked with the serial number on the water table.
Terry, is it the gun in Logan, Iowa.....serial number FWS 26,XXX.....?.....If so, serial range FWS 26,XXX would have been made in 1948. There was no factory Ideal Grade "trap gun". This gentleman is calling it a trap gun because of the raised rib in his own words, which most L.C. Smiths, of all gauges, had after 1939 to the end of production.
The factory called the raised rib the "Single Sighting Plane Rib" in response to the ever more popular pump and automatic single barrel shotguns of the time.
If you purchase the gun and want a nice accurate factory letter I recommend the Cody Firearms Museum where all the original factory ledgers and serial number information has been housed for many years. Membership not required.
Cody Firearms Museum Records Office - 307-578-4031....Fax - 307-578-4079.... Monday thru Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. MST - web site: ... centerofthewest.org/explore/firearms/firearms-records/
email: cfmrecords@centerofthewest.org
Hope this helps.
Sources: Brophy's L.C. Smith Shotguns and Houchins L.C. Smith "The Legend Lives".....
