Re: re: side plates of lc smith 12 gauge field grade shotgun Archived Message
Posted by SGT on September 16, 2008, 8:47 am, in reply to "re: side plates of lc smith 12 gauge field grade shotgun"
If your gun is a Marlin era gun (1945-1950), it will be built on a Featherweight frame and the serial number will begin with the prefix "FWS"; the letter "S" being the key indicator of a Marlin era gun. Without that "S" prefix stamp, the gun would be much earlier, a pre-1919 gun; and all LC Smith guns were true sidelocks. As to finishes, although there has been some discussion as to wheather locks and frames on late Marlin era guns could have been blued or plated, any guns with those finihes are out the the norm; therefore, were I restoring the gun, I would have the frame, sideplates, and fore iron re-case colored as this would most likely be the finish with which the gun was originally made and shipped. One method that will nearly always give the right clue to frame/side plate finish is the remaining finish on the underside of the fore iron. Metal surfaces here are not exposed to sunlight, and seldom touched by the hand; if you see case color on this surface, the gun was originally case colored.
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