School me on Feild Grade L.C. Smith SxS's

ducrider45 · Jul 28, 2016

School me on Feild Grade L.C. Smith SxS's. I just picked one up on an impulse buy. It is a plain 12ga Field Grade SxS with dual triggers and 26" barrels. What did I just get? any Idea on values? Ill post a picture ASAP.

noahhh · Jul 28, 2016

You just got one of the best American made doubles ever made. 26" barrels may not be original. 28" is by far the most common, some 26's are out there though. A lot drives the value of these field grades- aftermarket recoil pads, refinishing, cutting the barrels, etc. all drive the price down. You can pick up average condition field grades for around $500, in original configuration, well used but not abused. Cherry ones fetch well north of a grand. Pics would help.

The rotary bolt system employed in Smith guns (and collectors never call them "Elsies"- "Smith guns" is the accepted term) is self compensating for wear to a large degree. The more you shoot it the more it stays tight, up to a point. Don't abuse it with high velocity ammo- the gun is plenty strong, but the weak point is the thin wood behind the action which tends to crack if subjected to a diet of high recoil ammo.

ducrider45 · Jul 28, 2016

The barrels fit very well and looked to be marked correctly. It has two bead sights on the rib. the front sight is larger. The rib is engraved/ stamped with L.C. Smith as well. The gun smith at the shop took a look at the barrels and said that one is cylinder bore and the other is improved cylinder.

Bob A · Jul 28, 2016

Smiths are sidelock guns, which are generally considered superior to boxlocks, due to a shorter lock time - shorter interval between pressing the trigger and cartridge ignition.

ducrider45 · Jul 29, 2016

Here are a few pictures:

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[IMG][URL=http://s674.photobucket.com/user/ducrider45/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps2wohjfh8.jpg.html][IMG]http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv108/ducrider45/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps2wohjfh8.jpg[/URL][/IMG]

ducrider45 · Jul 29, 2016

I question if these barrels have been cut based on how tall the rib is at the end. Also it has two beads. the one at the half way mark is very small.

Augie · Jul 29, 2016

Looks decent, late gun after 1940 or so as it has the raised rib. Barrels may be OK, 26 not uncommon and if had been cut both barrels should measure cyl. Most likely ordered as an upland bird gun, short barrels, open chokes. Should do fine on the sporting clays course and as has been mentioned I would only use light loads. I use 1oz, 1200 fps handloads in my vintage SxS's.

ducrider45 · Jul 29, 2016

Augie said:
Looks decent, late gun after 1940 or so as it has the raised rib. Barrels may be OK, 26 not uncommon and if had been cut both barrels should measure cyl. Most likely ordered as an upland bird gun, short barrels, open chokes. Should do fine on the sporting clays course and as has been mentioned I would only use light loads. I use 1oz, 1200 fps handloads in my vintage SxS's.

This makes me feel better. I got it for under $400, so I figured that it was an ok buy.

Augie · Jul 30, 2016

ducrider45 said:
This makes me feel better. I got it for under $400, so I figured that it was an ok buy.

Under 400 is a good buy depending if any cracks in the wood behind the locks and if the gun is tight and on face, the lever with the action closed should sit to the right, if its past center and sits to the left it indicates some degree of wear.
Never take the fore end off an LC without the it being cocked or you won't be able to get the fore end back on, if you do uncock it with the fore end off you can take a small adjustable wrench and put it on the cockers and cock them.
Vintage SxS's get addictive, I've got a few LC's and a couple Fox's that I enjoy shooting.

platoonDaddy · Jul 30, 2016

If you want specific info about your firearm visit: http://www.lcsmith.org/shotguns/researchdivision.html

The following is the research letter on my firearm. I have both the 28 & 32" barrels with matching serial numbers

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ted76 · Jul 30, 2016

That looks like a nice fine.

:thumbsup:

Biggfoot44 · Jul 30, 2016

Well, let's say that sidelocks are generally considered more Upscale. * Better * has been hotly debated since forever, up to current day.

ducrider45 · Jul 31, 2016

No cracks in the wood. The finish is beat up and there are a few dents in the stock. The lever is just right of center. I'm looking into the best method of protecting the wood. Should I lightly sand it and refinish it or just oil it as is ( linseed oil?)?

ducrider45 · Jul 31, 2016

platoonDaddy said:
If you want specific info about your firearm visit: http://www.lcsmith.org/shotguns/researchdivision.html

The following is the research letter on my firearm. I have both the 28 & 32" barrels with matching serial numbers

[/URL][/IMG]

Nice! Thank you.

platoonDaddy · Jul 31, 2016

ducrider45 said:
No cracks in the wood. The finish is beat up and there are a few dents in the stock. The lever is just right of center. I'm looking into the best method of protecting the wood. Should I lightly sand it and refinish it or just oil it as is ( linseed oil?)?

Join the L.C. Smith Collectors Association Forum and talk to the pros.

http://members.boardhost.com/lcsmith/

Augie · Jul 31, 2016

platoonDaddy said:
Join the L.C. Smith Collectors Association Forum and talk to the pros.

http://members.boardhost.com/lcsmith/

Plus we have a couple great local shoots every year, a Spring Shoot at Carlisle Fish&Game and a fall one at First Mine Run.

As far as the stock, I think the original finish was a shellac type finish, if you pull the stock to refinish there are tricks to take the stock off and put it back on. Also with the stock off I would glass bed the head of the stock. There are a couple articles on the LC Smith Collectors web site on how to do this.

ducrider45 · Jul 31, 2016

Augie said:
Plus we have a couple great local shoots every year, a Spring Shoot at Carlisle Fish&Game and a fall one at First Mine Run.

As far as the stock, I think the original finish was a shellac type finish, if you pull the stock to refinish there are tricks to take the stock off and put it back on. Also with the stock off I would glass bed the head of the stock. There are a couple articles on the LC Smith Collectors web site on how to do this.

Awesome! Looks like I have a lot to learn and some fun projects in the future.

School me on Feild Grade L.C. Smith SxS's

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