2-Piper
My observation with SAC guns, and again with some exceptions, is that the best engraved, fitted, and finished guns are in the 25-34XXX serial number range. Most SAC 20-bores were made late in production and I have a project Grade A 20 in the 37XXX number range that would match your experience. This gun has much less engraving than a 16-bore A Grade I have in the 28XXX range and it's not very pretty inside. The subject A-1 Grade on the other hand, #31666, is finished very well internally; and all the lock-work (hammer springs, sears, cocking rods, etc.) are highly polished (look like chrome) with zero machining marks. And although this gun hasn't received the best of care over the past 115 plus years, I found these parts free of rust or staining and still bright when I took the gun apart today. The "newest" SAC gun I have in terms of not being used is a 1900 Grade OO extractor model; a $29 suggested retail gun, and SAC's lowest grade hammerless gun. This gun was used a time or two then left forgotten in a mutton leg leather case for decades; but when it is examined it is a study in what must have been SAC quality at the turn of the century. Wood to metal finish is flawless, as are checkered panels, and every screw is perfectly aligned. Given that the screw slots remain untouched, I haven't taken this gun apart; nor do I have plans to do so. Consider SAC guns to be like most other American shotguns as some production periods were better than others so that each gun must be judged on its own merits. Bottom line is that some SAC guns are works of art, and a collector shouldn't simply dismiss the entire lot based on one example.
