Re: SN
Posted by Tom Archer on August 1, 2020, 4:52 pm, in reply to "
Re: SN"
The serial number is 60440, and the gun is a Grade O; the number stamps were just a bit weak. The serial number block 60,000 is a special serial number block set aside by Hunter when they first commenced production of the 16 gauge Smith gun, is unique to pre-1913 manual extractor guns; and at this time in production, all Smith 16-bores were built on the "R" or regular (standard) sized gun frame. That changed in 1907 when the "FW" or "featherweight" sized frame was introduced; but yours is a very early first year production 16-bore (likely 1896) and is indeed on the R frame. The gun appears to be a very well used manual extractor model; and I believe I'm correct in that the Grade O gun was the lowest grade hammerless gun made in 1896.
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