The L.C. Smith Collectors Association
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    Re: Quality C and Quality 2 same serial number Archived Message

    Posted by Tom Archer on March 7, 2017, 8:44 am, in reply to "Quality C and Quality 2 same serial number"

    David, I know most of what there is to know about this gun; have actually had it in my hands for photos, and began a story for the DGJ years ago that I've never finished. And some may remember that I've also had this gun on display a few years ago at the Southern. This gun was purchased new by the original owner, who was a prosperous farmer; and who traveled around and competed in the various big shoots of the day. And folks may be interested to know that in 1893 he won a Grade B Parker hammerless 12-bore, the grant prize of the event, in a big shoot in Ohio (I think?). That gun remains with the original family; I have photos of the piece; and Mark verified that the gun was a prize gun donated by Parker Brothers. The barrels of this Quality C hammer gun were sent back to Hunter prior to 1912 by the second owner (the original owner had died, and I believe it was his son who inherited the gun and had this work done); and using those Syracuse barrels as a platform, Hunter built an entirely new 10-bore Grade 2E hammerless ejector gun with single trigger. I'm assuming all this work was done in the repair shop, and in the process Hunter stamped the Syracuse serial number and the Fulton era grade designation "2" on the frame. They left the original serial number on the Syracuse barrels and over-stamped the hammer gun grade designation "C" with the new Grade designation "2". This kind of work was apparently not uncommon in the day, as I own a Grade 0 10-bore Smith with Syracuse era Quality 2 barrels. Those barrels were sent to Hunter and used as the basis for an entirely new Grade O hammerless 10-bore. The serial number from those Syracuse barrels was stamped onto the new frame along with the grade designation "0", and the original quality designation "2" on the barrel flats was over-stamped with the Grade designation "O". Interestingly, these guns represent two of who knows how many examples of various grades of Smith guns not included in the surviving serial number records because of the re-use of the early Syracuse era serial numbers by Hunter's repair shop.

    When I first learned of this hammer to hammerless conversion, I knew it was rare and put its owner in touch with Buck Hamlin so can confirm that Buck did so the restoration work on the "new" 2E; and also on the original Quality C hammer frame and stock. The frame and stock components were very rough when located, as that portion of the original gun had been found in a barrel of junk left in a barn on the farm; but the original fore iron was never located. The barrels will still fit the hammer frame, but the top lever won't close because of modifications to the rib extension. When John Houchins wrote his book, this discarded Quality C frame was the ONLY example of a C quality hammer gun that we could locate, which is why pix of that gun were used in his book; and if one looks closely one will see that those pix do not show a forend.

    Based on your comments David, I'm wondering if this gun has changed hands; and if so, I'd really like to hear from the owner. Thanks, Tom

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