Posted by Tom Archer on December 16, 2014, 4:05 pm, in reply to "1945 Ideal Grade"
When Marlin purchased the LC Smith gun works in 1945, there were a number of existing guns/frames already on hand, stamped with serial numbers/option code, and in various stages of production. Prior to ordering new batches of frame forgings, Marlin finished and sold these existing in process guns using the serial numbers already assigned. Marlin commenced production of their "FWS" serial numbered guns with the first batch of gun frames ordered, the "S" stamp then being determined to be the unique Marlin era production code; so yes, Marlin did produce and/or finish some Smith guns bearing original L.C. Smith Gun Company serial number stamps (makes sense, why would someone buy; then trash perfectly good parts simply because they were already assigned a serial number?). And no, not all FW frames bear the FW prefix stamp; and you will find no FW stamped frames produced prior to about 1919; or with a prefix stamp of any kind (will see many FW examples with an "R" suffix however). As to your stock question, I've never seen an original factory stock without a serial number stamp beneath the trigger guard; won't say such is impossible, but stocks and small parts were purposely number stamped after fitting so that the right parts went back to the correct frame as the gun was assembled/disassembled during the various phases of production. You might post pics of your stock; and from those pics we can at least judge whether or not this stock has the correct stock profile and grade features of an Ideal Grade LC Smith.