Posted by Patrick Deason on April 5, 2018, 6:11 pm
A long time acquaintance recently asked if I would be interested in some old shotguns he inherited. In the group were two somewhat unique L.C. Smiths. I purchased a 20 ga. field with ejectors, 28" bbls. choked .580 left/.597 right, and new to me, a three position safety. The stock had been cut, then incrementally added to; my guess is for a growing child. The other neat Smith was a 12 with straight stock and similar stock dimensions to a skeet gun.
I know these guns came from the Thomasville, Ga. area. The current owner had grown up there. He said his neighbor was one of the Hunters of the Hunter Arms family. He also said he remembered as a boy going into the Hunter's basement gun room that was lined with L.C. Smiths. He said the Hunter man and his father were friends and that they frequently traded guns with each other. He surmised these two shotguns came from the Hunter gun room.
Any possibility this is true? Why would someone order a three positioned safety on a gun with these dimensions?
Re: Late history on Hunter
Posted by David Williamson on April 6, 2018, 7:03 am, in reply to "Late history on Hunter"
Patrick, it is hard to say where some of the descendants of the Hunter family settled. There were 6 brothers and 1 daughter so they could be anywhere. One of the great-great grandsons comes to the Hunter Homecoming every year from Michigan. Another great granddaughter lives not far from Fulton, N.Y. the birthplace of Hunter Arms Co. and also attends some of the Homecomings.
Most of these guns were hardware store guns, and it is possible the owner of the store ordered a few guns with ejectors or a straight stock, which could be ordered at no extra cost. The ejectors were a $10.00 option. The stocks if not ordered different were 14"-14 1/4" length of pull, and like you said was cut down either for a woman or a young adult. The 3 position safety could be a problem for someone not knowing how it worked by not coming back to safe when opened, but the original owner must have wanted it for something.