doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Best gun made in Anerica before 1900

These from Pratt Street in Baltimore were pretty nice --

I would put AH FOX 4th, LC SMITH 3rd, ITHACA 2nd and PARKER first. I own all brands and this is how I would rate them. Frank

Only Fox gun co. guns and Baker, then Crass Ithacas ( of those two manufacturers of the four noted above) were made prior to 1900, I believe...
I appreciate Elsie's & Parkers externally in the higher grades, but always thought the LC "side locks" were less refined than their English counterparts & Parkers seem somewhat overly complicated.
I think H&R's and Colts were well made and finished well. Simple designs , but expensive to produce.
Just my $.02 worth
Best regards,
JBP

"Don't use such a big screwdriver next time you pry the locks off..."

Not from me Ted.

My personal favorite is the Lefever. I like its design, but will say that as far as fit & finish all the way down through the lowest grades I would have to go with Parker. I am not a particular fan of Parkers & no longer own one but it's not because they were not well made.
I once had a 20ga Syracuse Arms A grade with the ejector switch on it. Don't recall exactly what now but something in the cocking arrangement broke & I had to go inside it. That was I believe the roughest finished gun I have ever seen inside in all my life even down to including some JABC's. The outside looked reasonably well but inside it looked like it was hewn out with a Foot Adz.
I do have a J P Clabrough which is well made & finished, but as stated I do not consider it an American gun. Don't know about them all but mine carries full Birmingham proofs so assume it was completely made there & then sold here. It is very doubtful if it had been finished in America that it would have been sent back for definitive proof & would thus have carried only the provisional proof.

"I once had a 20ga Syracuse Arms A grade with the ejector switch on it. Don't recall exactly what now but something in the cocking arrangement broke & I had to go inside it. That was I believe the roughest finished gun I have ever seen inside in all my life even down to including some JABC's"

Under the guidelines of the topic at hand, your SAC 20-bore falls outside the pre-1900 production parameter; as that gun would not have been produced prior to 1902 when SAC first offered a 20-bore. I've seen my fair share of beautifully fitted and finished SAC guns; but not those examples produced near the end of company operation (early 1905).

As for my opinion on the early period guns I've personally owned and used for hunting and targets, I have high opinions of the Colt model 1883, the early Syracuse Lefever, the Model 1894 Remington, early Syracuse and Fulton manufactured LC Smiths, early Parker hammer guns (later production Parker hammerless guns are better in my opinion than the early hammerless models), but the finest fitted and finished examples of made in American double guns I've ever seen were done by obscure custom makers in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and elsewhere in the northeast; makers names I can't recall at the moment, and all were in the collection of Bill Mcphail.

Parker , Bobby

1894 Remington for me.

Hard to say Bob, but nice discussion. I haven't been fortunate enough to get my hands on some of the things that likely would qualify. Chas Green for example of one of many.
Also I think there is a big difference in the discussion whether applied to: 1 mechanical quality, 2 fit and finish, 3 embellishments/ engraving.

All in all I go Lefever, with due respect to occasional smaller makers and examples. The Lefever has a grace that is not duplicated in the other big makers.

LeFever, L.C. Smith, Parker and lastly, Ithaca. Now make the date line 1930-- and I would order them-- Ithaca NID, L.C. Smith and Fox-- Parker at the end of the train. No mention of the Baker guns??