Sporting Life, October 17, 1908 https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/32116 "Hunter Arms Company Places High-Grade Shotgun on Market" A double-barreled, single-trigger shotgun that a girl can use, and that any Nimrod would be proud of, now that the hunting season is on, the announcement of a brand new high-grade shotgun of that sort is one of timely interest to the readers of "Sporting Life." It is the product of the Hunter Arms Company. The new gun is a 20-gauge, L. C. Smith, and is described as a beauty, perfect in balance, correct in its lines and weighing only 5 1/2 to 6 pounds. Mr. John Hunter, in speaking about it, said: "It is the neatest, daintiest little proposition we have ever put on the market." The Hunter "Boys" spent eighteen months in making a complete set of tools before a single one of these guns was turned out. This new 20-gauge will be No. 0 and better grades. Barrels 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32 inches in length. And the sportsman can have anything he may want in the way of pattern from cylinder to full choke. Stocks are standard length and drop, and the gun is supplied with or without automatic ejector, as with all other gauges, and is so constructed that the Hunter One-Trigger can be fitted to it.. The Hunter Arms Company emphasize the fact that this little 20-gauge Smith is not a 16-gauge cut down and called a 20, but is correctly made from the foundation stock, lock and barrels. It is something new under the sun.
Dr. Jim has recorded the earliest 20 Gauge as SN 5067 finished September 30, 1907, a No.2
Thank you so much! The descriptions in Sporting Life and by John Hunter describe my Elsie perfectly. I have a 20 Ga., No. O that weighs 5.75 lbs and, according to Dr. Jim, was made on October 9, 1907. I am a Grouse and Quail hunter and could not be happier with the performance and overall handling of my sweet Elsie! Thanks, again!
Oops. The first 20 gauge recorded is a No. 2 SN 1003 finished July 12, 1907.
Re: First 20g
Posted by Marvin Underwood on March 11, 2019, 8:22 am, in reply to "First 20g "
This note clears up a question I had. My gun's SN is 1076 and was made October 9, 1907, which is consistent, timing wise, with the July 12, 1907 date for the first 20 gauge. Thanks, again, especially for your diligence! Marvin Underwood