Posted by Bobby on May 1, 2012, 9:57 pm 74.241.72.163
Anybody know what a reasonable cost would be for disassemble/reassemble, cleaning and inspecting, and neck glass bedding? Also,my top lever is to the left indicating a worn locking bolt. Is it as simple as installing a new one?
A Basic Tune Up and Tightening On A LCS
Posted by Jent P. Mitchell III on May 2, 2012, 3:19 am, in reply to "Refurbishing a Smith" 173.72.209.237
A basic tune up and tightening on a LCS plus a degrease and glass bed of the head of the butt stock will run between $1200 and $1800 depending upon several factors. Is your L C Smith a pre 1913 shotgun type or a post 1913 type ??? Does it have firing pin bushing or not ??? The rotating locking bolt and rib extension can be mico welded and refitted to tighten up the gun and the hook can be mico welded to get the gun back on face. During almost every tune up the gunsmith will find a bad firing pin or a worn cocking rod or a poor trigger pull that needs to be attended to so be ready to spend some money to get the job done correctly. Be very very careful about who you let work on one of your good side-by-sides. Many of us have had a general gunsmith do more damage than he did good working on a L C Smith for us. Stick with the gunsmiths that specialize in repairing good side-by-sides when you get the repairs done. Do not be surprised when all of the good SXS gunsmiths tell you that it will take 6 months to 18 months to get this type of basic work done. All of the good SXS gunsmiths have a long line of guns in their shops waiting for service. Tell us where you live and we will let you know if you live near a known good SXS gunsmith. Good Shooting To You, Jent
Thanks, Jent. I didn't know it cost so much to have this type work done. That's way out of my range. I've owned the gun for 45 years and would never part with it but now I'm afraid to shoot it. I could just hang it on the wall or I could learn to do the work myself. If I mess up, the worst is that I hang it on the wall.
Re: Refurbishing a Smith
Posted by Ken on May 2, 2012, 5:00 pm, in reply to "Refurbishing a Smith" 108.26.98.85
Bobby, don't let that man's numbers scare you. A competent gunsmith can take your locks off and clean and polish them up for a lot less money than that. We have one who will do that for under $200. Your stock may not even need glass bedding. Shooting low pressure shells will alleviate that problem most of the time. We shoot 7/8 oz. 12 ga. shells that are 5300 psi. They are making wads for 3/4 oz. 12 ga. loads now. Learning to glass a stock is not that hard. Don't be scared into thinking your gun is a wall hanger.
Read The Question The Top Lever Is Loose
Posted by Jent P Mitchell III on May 2, 2012, 7:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Refurbishing a Smith" 173.72.209.237
Ken, Cleaning the locks will not do anything to repair the loose top lever that is over to the left. Now about this $200 to clean and polish L C Smith locks, that is nuts ! I will clean your locks for nothing but the fun of it, there is nothing to cleaning L C Smith locks, it is easy. Polishing L C Smith locks will remove the case colors from the lock plates so I would not polish the locks unless they are rusty. If the head of the butt stock is oil soaked then it needs to be degreased and glass bedded to make it safe to shoot without doing more damage to the stock. Just about every time you work on an old L C Smith you will find something that you did not expect to find, things like bent or misshaped firing pins, worn out cocking rods and screws with bad slots or damaged threads. Like I wrote earlier, getting this work done correctly is not cheap. Like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. If you go with the low bidder with no track record you are going to get what you paid for. I would strongly advise you to allow only professional gunsmiths that specialize in side-by-side shotguns to work on your L C Smith. Go with a gunsmith that has been recommended on this website by more than three of our members. Good Shooting To You, Jent
More of the pontification that we all have come to expect from you. I did read the question. Maybe you should reread it. He asked about disassembly, inspection, cleaning, reassembly, and glassing the stock. The lever was a separate issue. I would think most of us are shooting Smiths that have never been glassed, and shooting low pressure shells, with no adverse effects on the stocks. You've made him think that after 45 years, he has nothing but a wall hanger, with no affordable options. That is just bad information. Your opinion is just that---your opinion. Simply put, I have a different opinion
Not sure if this will help. I'm new to this, two years ago I bought a field grade 1926 in a very poor condition for around $350 off gunbroker. The lever retaining screw was rounded off but it worked. So I thought this would be a good project. Well since then I've put around $1000 into it. I want to point out that around $250 of that money was wasted on a lack of knowing what I was asking for along with not finding the right person. I'd also like to point out that this was a total restoration, new stock and forearm, case coloured, barrels re-blued, etc and it was all done by people who have been doing this for years and loved their work. The best time I spent was asking around and finding these people. My gun was seen by some as a wall hanger and now its as solid as a rock and looks great. Don't give up on your gun it just takes time to find the right people and I'm sure plenty of people on here know someone who is in your area and for your budget. The best thing that came out of my project wasn't the gun, it was the people I met and the knowledge I got. Good luck.
