There is an error in my previous post.

1886 to 1888 (& not '98) is the more-commonly referenced period of production for hammerless guns in Syracuse.

When you compare the total production of guns from Syracuse to the output from the Fulton plant, the numbers are staggering. Houchins counts the early years at Fulton (1890-1892) in with the total production numbers for the Syracuse hammerless guns and even with that, he only lists a total of 1,595 guns produced. That, of course, makes the survivors of this rather-short period of time quite unusual, and arguably "rare" and collectable (and accordingly...more valuable). These firearms are artifacts from a very brief and unique period of history in this country. Things were simply made quite differently then.

After production ramped up in Fulton, however, total production comes in at several thousand(s) of guns (still looking to confirm that total number). In order to produce such a large number (and as Mr. Williamson previously mentions here earlier) lots of the "nicer" components of the earlier LC Smith guns had to be dispensed with.

These later guns (mainly post-1913) can still be quite lovely (and certainly quite functional!). For me, however, they lack a component of the "gunmaker's art" that I have become shall-we-say more-accustomed to (mainly by shooting mostly English guns for the last 25-year now). It's these "earlier" guns that I find so intriguing and ultimately, so attractive.