10 gauge LC Smith Baker Gun missing a left hammerArchived Message
Posted by Jim Rimpau on August 4, 2015, 1:38 pm
I recently came into possession of a couple of old guns that have been in my family for several generations. One is a 10 gauge, side by side hammer gun with 30 inch barrels. The barrel rib is marked “LC Smith Maker of Baker Gun, Syracuse, NY.” That is followed by the words “STUB TWIST”. It looks to me like it is what is described as a Baker Double-Barrel Gun on another page on this website. The Serial number is 6381. According to that Baker Double-Barrel web page, I think my gun was made in 1883. The gun belonged to my Great Grandfather, William Newton Alexander who would have been around 15 years old in 1883. The gun looks to me like it was probably a basic field grade gun (Quality A). It does have some checkering which is almost worn smooth but no engraving. William Alexander’s family was loggers and farmers in the Willamette Valley in Oregon and never had a lot of money. It makes sense to me that the gun would be an inexpensive functional model. The gun is in pretty good shape. It was stored for decades in a golf bag in the rafters of my cousin’s garage but survived that pretty well. I don’t plan to shoot it but I would like to display it. The one defect is that the left side hammer is missing. I know a good gunsmith who can replace it but I don’t know where to find a replacement hammer. Does anyone here have any suggestion of how/where I might find a new (old) hammer? Thanks for any help you can give me.