Re: 2 barrel multi gauge L C Smith guns Archived Message
Posted by Tom Archer on January 2, 2015, 6:25 pm, in reply to "Re: 2 barrel multi gauge L C Smith guns"
In response to Brother Destry's comment, as one who has studied the L.C. Smith gun for many years; I can personally attest that there were multitudes of special ordered L.C. Smith guns produced for sportsmen, especially in the pre-1913 production periods. Granted Parker made a fair amount of odd-ball guns with barrels longer than 34 inches, and in a few odd-ball gauges that were obsolete before the gun was shipped to the buyer; but the primary difference between the companies was that all Hunter Arms ever did was produce guns, while the Parker Gun Works was a small division of a much larger company. If the Parker Gun Division lost money every year making weird shotgun configurations for well-heeled clients, the other Parker manufacturing divisions could absorb the lost and the company continue producing their "Old Reliable" line of shotguns. But with no revenue stream other than gun sales, should the Hunter Arms Company fail to make and sustain a profit; they were out of business. Hunter Arms was certainly just as capable of producing guns with weird bore sizes and barrel lengths than Parker Brothers; but their management was smart enough to know there would be no profit in such endeavor, and therefore chose to send customers with such odd ball requests over to the Parker Brothers. And if one ponders this point, one will recall that Ithaca was also strictly a gun manufacturer; has anyone ever seen an Ithaca double with 42" barrels? Years ago I owned a DHE Parker with 34" Titanic Steel barrels; it was the most unwieldy shotgun I've ever owned. I'm certain most shooters had the same opinion, therefore I don't lose sleep worrying over the question as to why Hunter Arms made only one 34" barreled gun; that question was answered with the DHE, so I traded that beast for something I could actually use. And for whatever my opinion may be worth, although a collector would certainly pay a premium for such an odd ball Parker; for actual using I'd find a set of 42" shotgun barrels about as useless as a set of tits on a boar hog.
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