Here is my theory for whatever you think it may be worth. Based on what I know of Smith guns, I believe, based on the fact that the engraving and serial number stamps are correct, that your gun was rebarreled at some point after original shipment by Hunter Arms. Exactly why it was rebarreled may never be known, perhaps the original barrels were damaged beyond repair; or perhaps, given the fact that your gun shipped about the same time Hunter was transitioning away from Damascus barrels (and I have seen a few examples of Specialty Grade guns from this same period with Damascus barrels), that a later owner had an original set of Damascus barrels replaced. But regardless the reason, the gun was rebarreled; and done so with a lower grade set of barrels, which is not often seen but is not uncommon either when studying Smith guns. So why would someone do this? Let's consider Hunter's replacement/extra barrel pricing policy (and my original catalogs are on loan, so some of this information will be from memory); typically, Hunter's price for an extra, or replacement set of barrels was 50% of the retail price for that particular grade (fore irons extra), therefore for comparison purposes and using 1936 as an example year for pricing purposes, a replacement set of Specialty Grade ejector barrels would cost $59.25 (catalog retail of $118.50/2=$59.25) while a corresponding replacement set of ejector Field Grade barrels sold for $28.60 (retail of $57.20/2=$28.60). As you can see these guns were always expensive items, and remained so even during the depression era; so you can see why a cost conscious shooter would be more than willing (maybe forced to be by the constraints of his wallet) to take such an opportunity to save a few hard-earned bucks, especially given the fact, that outwardly, the appearance between Armour and Nitro Steel barrels is exactly the same, and that Armour Steel barrels also had a great reputation for strength and shooting qualities (some have even argued that the only differences between barrels marked Armour and Nitro were the stamps; that their alloy content and make-up was the same, I personally have no idea). One final theory is that the gun began life as a true Field Grade, was then sold to a Hunter employee; who then hired or bartered with fellow employess to upgrade the gun to Specialty (which Hunter allowed; employees worked 6-day weeks and 12-hour days, but workers were allowed (even encouraged) to work on their own guns and guns for each other during slow periods and after hours). It is possible, but not likely, that the old shipping records have an entry regarding this barrel replacement; and you may wish to contact Cody in that regard. Wish I could be more specific; but short of researching and verifying the actual history of this gun, theories are about the best you can hope for. Good luck.
