mattl46, over the years, I have bought a number of project guns to repair or restore, including an L.C. Smith and 2 20 ga. Ithaca Flues with blown barrels. I also have a 16 ga Baker B Grade complete action and buttstock that is very nice, and a 16 ga. Syracuse Lefever action and forearm. Both need barrels and the Baker also needs the forearm. I have walked many miles at many gun shows and shops looking for these parts, but so far have only found barrels for the 12 ga. 00 grade L.C. Smith, which took very little fitting to make a into shooter with mismatched serial numbers. Total investment for my mismatched numbers L.C. Smith shooter was $100.00 and a bunch of time.
Another recent success story was a 12 ga. Folsom Baker Batavia that was in excellent condition with very strong case colors, but was missing the forearm. I paid $100.00, which wouldn't have been a bad price for just the barrels. Then I found a correct forearm in a lot of 5 forearms on Gunbroker for $40.00. That lot also had a nice Syracuse Lefever forearm which was an added bonus.
I still hold out hope that I will find the parts to return the others to the field, but I have learned it won't be easy. In my searches, I have found a lot of other things I needed, or didn't even know I needed until I saw them. Once, I found a DSE grade Lefever action and forearm at one gun show, and I found the exact matching serial number buttstock for this gun a couple months later at another gun show about 70 miles away. I learned that the parts from this gun became separated after a gunsmith died, and I keep hoping that I will one day find the matching barrels even though I did find another set of DSE 12 ga. barrels to complete the gun... no easy feat in itself. So enjoy your parts hunting and good luck. It's all part of the same insanity that drives guys to spend years chasing down parts and spending $40,000 to restore a car that they will only realistically be able to sell for $25,000.
