Attended a "Polar Bear" shoot yesterday with the Colorado Vintagers. January in Colorado can mean many things but colder is usually the rule and yesterday was no exception. It wasn't terrible but it was definitely cold, with a steady west wind blowing. Folks were, for the most part, prepared but it was still something of a hardship (next time I'll bring a thermos of hot coffee). The guns were the usual mix of domestic and imported doubles, with a few interesting ones scattered amongst the crowd of shooters. Saw only my second Dougal Lockfast and truly interesting Parker hammer lifter (two gauge set!, long story). What I found to be remarkable was the number of Elises present. I was shooting my Quality 1 gun, but there were several others, a nice 1940s featherweight, a nicer 1920s Specialty Grade, and an almost unused Field Grade. I'm used-to being the lone Elsie guy at these events, but not this time. As prices have come down on these guns ( thanks to some highly-critical reviews by some well-known gunsmiths) more are making their ways into younger shooter's hands.

1940s, 1890s & I'm guessing 1870s Scottish



Not to belabor the point but the bottom metal on these two Smiths is dramatically different. They do look similar (clearly related) but also very different.

This outing yesterday was my 1st really successful target shoot with this Quality 1 gun. I'm fighting some vision challenges in my left eye (& I'm a southpaw) but I somehow seemed to adapt to my circumstances and shot my gun well on the clays yesterday. I notice that on this Quality 1 that very little "lead" is built into the gun and I found that in order to consistently break clays with it, I had to completely cover the target (much like other European shotguns I have shot). I wouldn't have expected that in an American gun, & certainly not in the later versions.

Something else, I really appreciated the considerable weight on my circa-1891 gun yesterday. My game guns (in this application) would have beaten me silly. Really made for a fun shoot and I got to use my "3-position safety' a lot on the trap range. A very practical application here.

Glad it shoots well and there are younger shooters using these fine guns.

Younger shooters buy what they can afford, period. As older collectors "age-out" the guns from those collections then flow onto the market. Its a natural process, sadly, and will continue for all the markets for these guns. Many of the Smiths I saw yesterday had the classic indications of "cracking stock" problems which is now what these guns are almost-universally known for, which is a shame. It's clearly a "fixable" problem but...not many 'smiths are left that can competently address it, or will. That is the primary reason for these now "affordable" guns.

The guns without that "problem" (mostly pre-1913) might actually benefit from that fact eventually, as they were almost universally recognized by my fellow shooters as being immensely attractive.

The difference in the trigger guards is the gun on the left is a Featherweight frame, and the gun on the right is a Regular frame. There are other digmfferences as well (length of record lug, length from breech face to hinge pin, etc.).

Well...yes, there are lots of differences between these two guns, with the later "featherweight" distinction being a big one. Lets see if I can name the others off of the top of my head...

1891 guns were "transitional" meaning that the folks in Fulton, NY were still working thru Syracuse-sourced parts. In 1891 the stocks were English walnut, not American. The tubes on the earlier gun were from England as well (Birmingham-proofed Best Laminated Steel) but were likely sourced in Belgium first. What else is different...1st version stop-check extractors, a 3-position "window-style" safety on the earlier gun and, of-course, a double-dog butt plate.

I think that's everything, other than the almost 50-year difference in their "born-on" dates.

Transition guns from Syracuse stated when the L.C. Smith Syracuse Gun Co. was sold to John Hunter Sr. in 1888. Machinery went to Fulton along with some unfinished guns. Some workers stayed behind and assembled guns but these guns "transitional" did not have a makers name on the center rib. When Fulton finally got rolling, some of their early guns with the rounded lug also did not have a makers name on the barrels but I would not call them transitional. Some in my records from serial numbers 25,000 to the first one I have recorded 26,479 is a round lug but still with no maker's name on barrels. the last one I have recorded with no maker's name with a round lug is 29,892 (1890).
These are all hammer guns as no hammerless guns were made during this period in Syracuse or Fulton.

The stocks on some of the early Quality F hammer guns from Syracuse and then Fulton were listed as a good quality American walnut. Higher grades used European walnut.

Damascus and Twist Steel barrels were sourced from Belgium. Steel barrels first used on hammer guns were Royal Steel and possibly sourced from England. Royal Steel barrels were the cheapest barrels offered on hammer guns.

The joint check was to stop the downward movement of the barrels, it didn't work as well as planned but it made getting the shells out a lot easier because the barrels opened more. The reason the joint check was eliminated was a cost factor. The second style joint check worked much better in the downward movement of the barrels but had one flaw, if the spring broke there was difficulty in removing the barrels.

The 3 position safety started on Syracuse guns starting in 1886 and was put there for live bird and then Trap shooting. Reason was, breaking gun open with a 2 position safety and forgetting to push safe off, you lost the bird, so the three position safety started to eliminate the use of the safety.
Later on in Fulton it was an option to have a 3 position safety.

The pointing setters on the butt plate was not a Hunter Arms Co. butt plate but was sourced from another company and was used on various guns. This is seen on the early Fulton graded number guns, ie; Qlty 2,3, etc.

David, thankyou for that. Shot my Quality 1 gun again today, this time on sporting clays. We had a surprisingly nice January day here and took advantage of it. My performance today wasn't quite as good as it was on trap, but the gun was still a pleasure to use. Lots of questions from the other shooters today (as it was the only sxs out there).