info on great great grandfather shotgun

Posted by Jason on May 30, 2012, 3:01 am
173.23.183.10

hey, i just got a lc smith double barrel 12 ga from my grandpa. the serial number is 186218 with an f below. how old is this gun, and what is it worth. the gun is not in the best shape. everything is there the stock is decent but the barrel shows a lot of age, and the trigger mechanism and action seems to work but will need cleaning and gone through. i dont believe it looks safe to shoot however im interested in getting it safe to shoot, what should i do. any small bit will help thanks, jason

Re: info on great great grandfather shotgun

Posted by David Williamson on May 30, 2012, 6:09 am, in reply to "info on great great grandfather shotgun "
174.49.147.138

Jason, in looking at your serial number, 186218, and having an F below it, would be an F Grade hammer gun. Did you add one too many numbers? There is nothing in this range of serial numbers.

Re: info on great great grandfather shotgun

Posted by jason on May 30, 2012, 9:34 am, in reply to "Re: info on great great grandfather shotgun "
173.23.183.10

the serial is actually 168218. im sorry lol.

Re: info on great great grandfather shotgun

Posted by David Williamson on May 30, 2012, 10:04 am, in reply to "Re: info on great great grandfather shotgun "
174.49.147.138

Jason, that's better. Your gun is from 1911, it would be a 2 pin 1 screw back action lock. It should have the "C" style hammers and the top tang should be the tapered one. In a 1906 catalog, the F Grade hammer gun was offered with 3 different barrels, Royal Steel-$20.00, Best English Stub Twist-$23.00 and Good Damascus-$25.00. If it has Royal Steel barrels it will be stamped on the right barrel, the same for Stub Twist, but the Good Damascus, from what I have seen will just show the pattern. Value, without seeing gun is a very hard thing to do, one's opinion will vary with someone else. The best thing to do is go to one of the on-line gun auction sites and compare yours to one that is there and see what it sells for. For some that have a fixed price, watch them, because many have been re-listed as to not selling before.

Re: info on great great grandfather shotgun

Posted by jason on May 30, 2012, 10:37 am, in reply to "Re: info on great great grandfather shotgun "
173.23.183.10

cool, that helps a lot, ill see if i can get some pics up shortly, it seems to be in decent shape, everything seems tight and seems to work the way it should. as far as the barrel, it looks to be a damascus however i can barely see the pattern. there are no visible markings on top of the barrels, however on the bottom of them i can see markings almost like initials that look like H.H.F. or H.R.F. and then its followed by two 4's and this is on each barrel. another thing is, i would like to shoot this gun. im not sure i trust the barrel. is there a way i can find a spare barrel that would work, and what should i look for when purchasing one.

'H.R.F.'

Posted by Drew Hause on May 30, 2012, 11:29 am, in reply to "Re: info on great great grandfather shotgun "
68.2.21.200

The initials of Heuse-Riga Fils, the Belgian maker of the tubes and commonly found on c. 1910 F grade hammer guns. If you'll let us know where you are, we might be able to recomend a gunsmith nearby to look over your gun Jason. Please check the FAQs for more information.

Re: 'H.R.F.'

Posted by Jason on May 30, 2012, 1:39 pm, in reply to "'H.R.F.'"
166.147.104.147

Im from central IL, just about 20-30 minutes north of Peoria il. And thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it, and it's helped out a lot.

Illinois Smith smith

Posted by Drew Hause on May 30, 2012, 3:07 pm, in reply to "Re: 'H.R.F.'"
68.2.21.200

Steve Downes Sterling, IL 815-622-9535