WWII WILDFOWL Discovered
Posted by Mike Dean on December 7, 2021, 11:01 pm
A bit of irony in this find on today, December 7th. I stopped in at my local gun store here in Virginia and on the shelf was a very fine L. C. Smith. It stood out from the rest of shotguns...mostly for the long elegant barrels that seemed to tower above the other shotguns in the rack. Upon initial examination it was a plain Field Grade in very good condition. But, to my surprise when I turned it over I saw the WILDFOWL stamping on the lug. I asked the owner if we could take a closer look and when we broke the shotgun down I could clearly see the initials RLB, the flaming bomb and crossed cannons markings. The barrels were 32 inches in length, mirror bright, and DID NOT have the "chambers 3 inches" marking or reinforced barrel loop. Not having my LCSmith books with me and being out on the road; I did the next best thing to confirm what I believed to be a special piece of WWII history...I emailed Jim Stubbendieck from my phone...and this is where I want to say how fortunate we are to be able to reach out to resources within the LCSCA to help new collectors like me find answers. Within a short amount of time Jim was able to confirm this was indeed a shotgun that was shipped to the Rochester Ordnance District. All looked good and that is when I noticed the forearm ser# did not match the barrels and receiver. I sent the serial# on the forearm back to Jim and he was also able to confirm that the forearm was for an identical shotgun shipped to the Rochester Ordnance District. Mystery Solved.. The bottom line for me is that I was able find a great piece of history and that I am deeply appreciative of the help club members who were able to provide me such precise information on short notice. We are fortunate to have these types of resources available to us all.. My request for the research letter is filled out and waiting for the postman...
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