Posted by Tom Archer on August 28, 2020, 8:54 pm, in reply to "Re: Start Date...."
The second lowest hammerless Smith gun serial number I've recorded with a Fulton, NY address is this un-graded 12-bore, #23475. This gun does have the radiused barrel lug and lock plates set back from the breech balls in the Fulton fashion, but all remaining features appear to be from the Syracuse production era. I've no idea when this or the above examples were produced as there are no records; but it's been speculated, based on the raised gold "LCS" initials, that this may have been Lyman C. Smith's personal gun. It's plausible as this gun was likely produced in 1888-89 time frame; and could have represented part of his deal to sell all rights to the Smith gun? We'll never know, but speculation is the most intriguing part of research.