doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Checkering on LCS Grade 5

No, it's definitely 24. No question in my mind. I have my answer.

Thank you,

JDG

I came up with 24 (as Jay did) by tracking a line away to the right, counting diamonds on the diagonal, then tracking another line to the right again to resume counting diamonds diagonally. Pretty darn sure it's 24.

Thanks for posting Jay....

The ruler should have been a metal machinists scale/ruler in 64ths by 1" (scale 4) increments and laid in line/parallel with the checkering rows.

From these pictures I would say the LPI is 24/26. Very far from the 36 or 40 LPI mentioned on page one - which probably doesn't exist on any gun - - - 24/26 LPI puts this gun in line with all the published data for this grade of L.C. Smith.... Note the chart I posted on page one of this thread for L.C. Smith factory checkering LPI....

I had a high grade Sauer years ago with the finest checkering on a gun I have ever owned. It was 32 lpi on the butt and 28 on the fore end. The 32 was verified with a machinist ruler by a gunsmith that was showing me how to measure checkering. the wood was nice but not over the top like some exhibition stocks I have seen. The pattern was lovely and the gun was superb. One of the few guns I have sold that I wished I never let out of my sight. It was as nice as any Daily double of the same era. But family and bills had to be taken care of first so it went to a fellow in NJ. He is now dead, my gun is in some collectors safe and the money it brought is long spent. Sad ending for such a nice gun. Perhaps I come across it again.

I do not see where the mat'l the scale is made of makes any difference. it should not be placed parallel to anything. It should lay perpendicular to one direction of the checkering. I did at one point in my life have an old .41 rimfire Swiss Vetterli rifle which had a coarse square checkering. In this case you would have laid the scale perpendicular to one line of the checkering & it would have been parallel to the other. You measure on the perpendicular though & with a Diamond pattern you're not parallel to either set of rows.

I just measured the checkering on this Schutzen rifle in my collection. I believe it has the smallest checkering on any firearm I own and it came out as 26 per inch. This checkering IMO is so fine it's not very useful in providing a good gripping surface. I frankly can't even imagine the purpose of checkering over 30 per inch.
Jim

I agree about 32 being too fine. It was explained to me that the reason for the coarser fore end checkering was to make it better for gripping. Sadly I never shot the Sauer very much, still in my early auto/pump and magnum phase of youth. I have seen very fine checkering on side panels right behind the breech face but that is just decorative so too fine is no problem.

To me, 24-lpi is about the cutoff between something practical and something that is not. I think the checkering on Dicks Grade 5 is very elegant (especially with that pattern) and is befitting a gun of that age and grade. Unfortunately the fellow who did my checkering did so with 16-lpi, which is not bad until you see it next to an original.

Thanks again to all who posted.

JDG

The first gun with Turkish wood I had recheckered was done at 28 lines per inch because I could - the wood took it well. The checkering is too small for a good grip, but it sure is pretty! Now I stick to 24 lines per inch for most checkering. On simple field guns I go to 20 or 22 lip as it looks more appropriate for the grade of gun and provides excellent grip, as it is supposed to.
Regards,
Jeff