Posted by David W on July 27, 2008, 8:55 am, in reply to "L C Smith 20 ga"
Kim, The raised rib could be the "Single Sighting Plane" that was an option in 1939 for $5.00 more and I believe starting in 1940 became a standard option. As for the blued receiver, catalogs of that period when Marlin took over, stated that the receivers would be case hardened/colored like the Hunter Arms Co. guns were. There are exceptions to all of this and there is proof that some were nickel plated and some were blued. It looks out of place, but I wouldn't jump to have it removed, and if you wanted to have it re-colored, an expensive project, because receiver has to be annealed (softened) and then re-cased hardened to give it that color. Only a few experts around that can give you that L.C. Smith color. Your guns serial number is in the last years of Hunter Arms Co., and possibly in the last month. This was right after the war, the Navy had a law suit of $167,000 that they had paid Hunter Arms for a contract and with the popularity of pumps and auto loaders, Hunter Arms went bankrupt. So the possibly that guns put together might have been less than expected, but who really knows.
Good luck and we hope that you become a member of the L.C.S.C.A.