doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com LC Smith 2E 16ga price check?

Beautiful gun on a small 20ga. frame. Feels like it weighs close to 6 lbs, straight grip, hunter one single selective trigger, perfect bores, tight, engraved quail, great wood, original leather faced pad, but 3" drop and a bit of pitch to compensate. What would be a good price for such a gun?

Barrel length, chokes, and amount of remaining case color have a big influence on price/value.

Fairly rare, 404 recorded from the shipping records; but no breakdown as to numbers of ejector 20-bore 2E's vs extractor models.

Wasn't able to measure, but appeared to be 28," ic/m, 50% case. Not 100% sure if it was an ejector model either, will have to verify. Not sure what the price difference should be for ejector vs extractor either. Rough estimates?

If the gun had the "banjo" style fore arm release escutcheon; it was an ejector model. If there was a round dogs head bakelite insert in the forearm wood, it was an extractor model. Smith guns were not produced in 20-bore until 1907, so pre-1913 Grade 2/2-E 20-bore Smith guns were only in production for 5 years prior to the Grades change in 1913. I won't hazard a price, but if this 20-bore was manufactured on the old style Regular, or "R" frame, you could pick a value, as no "R" framed 20-bore has ever been discovered (and may not exist?). I can also tell you that 2E 20-bores are highly sought by Smith gun aficionados; generally hard to find, and generally fetch good prices.

Topgun,
I think Mark indicated it is 16 ga. on a 20 ga frame.

Thanks Gordon, I sure screwed up there; so let me speak to the pre-13 16-bore 2-E Grade Smith. Basically everything stated above remains the same except that 2-E 16's are not as rare; and that the 16-bore was first manufactured in 1895. The primary feature to remember will be the frame itself; from its introduction in 1895 until 1907, when the Featherweight ("FW") frame came into production, all 16-bores were manufactured on a scaled down version of the standard "R" sized frame. After the introduction of the FW frame in 1907, 16-bore Smith guns were manufactured on both the R and FW frame; and even with the "R" frame, Hunter Arms advertised 16-bore ejector guns as light as 6 lbs and 8 oz. Sometime after 1913, the R frame was dropped from use with the 16-bore; and all 16's were manufactured on the FW frame from that point thru the end of production. But the FW frame was not reserved solely for light weight Smith guns, and it is not difficult to find a 12-bore Smith on an FW frame weighing in at 8 pounds or more. In fact, the same FW frame was used to manufacture every gauge Smith gun manufactured by Hunter, with the exception of 8 and 10 bores; and the only differences between the 12, 16, 20, and 410 FW frames were the size of the breech balls and distances between firing pin holes. Personally, the early 16-bore Smith guns built on the scaled down R frames hold the most appeal to me; these scaled down R frames are much more pleasing esthetically, and rare in the higher grades.

Hi Mark, lots of great info from the previous posters. But as to price, I'd say roughly $100.00, but I'll double that and give you $200 (I'll even pay the shipping!!!).

Have a good one!!

Greg

To add to what Topgun has stated, the FW frame did replace the Regular frame on hammerless guns only. Hammer guns in 16 ga. and other gauges were all made on Regular frmaes unatil the end of production for them in 1932.

It must have been after 1914 that the Regular frame 16 ga. were discontinued, as I have a 1914 Trap Gr. on a Regular frame.

Thank you topgun for all the info, and others also. It does have the banjo style forend, so it appears to be an ejector model, on the scaled down R frame. I can get it for $1500, but would have to trade up, and I prefer double triggers. Good buy nonetheless?