Posted by John Christoffersen on May 30, 2014, 6:53 pm
So I have been picking up some cheap Smiths to make a shooter out of and I hit a bit of a snag. Serial 41754, should be placed around 1896. Expected a 00 or 0 grade only to find nothing. Screws and lever are engraved, side plates are bare. 30" possibly acid etched bernard or leopard patterned damascus barrels. The pattern can be felt by the hand and feels like snake skin. Never seen this on a Smith before. Choked full and extra full with 10 inch chokes. The bores are flawless and have not been honed. I consider the wood to be comparable to my 5E, sadly the checkering is worn off. The only stamps on the gun other than the LC Smith on the side plates, are Pat dates and the serial on barrel, receiver, forend, interior side plates, and trigger guard. It falls outside the range of an XX or XXX, so is it a factory error or something special? Would post pictures but the camera broke and haven't had time to pick up a new one.