LC Smith 00 sxs

ronl · March 6, 2025, 09:43 PM

Doing some research on LC Smith 00 shotgun serial number 303xxx. I am thinking it was made around 1911-1912. Properly marked with numbers on barrel and receiver. Problem is that the gun, when compared to others from the time period, it has more pins through the side plates. I am no expert whatsoever as far as shotguns are concerned, just trying to identify it properly for the owner. Were there later versions or fakes made with more pins through the side plates than the 1898-1922 versions of the guns? Will try to post pics later.

Ricklin · March 7, 2025, 01:16 PM

I'm a fan of LC Smith guns, I only have one of 1918 vintage. Best trigger of any gun i own.
I have not ever heard of any actions with Addl. pins, nor of any fakes or knock offs. I am not an expert by any stretch. There is an LC Smith collectors group LCsmith.org I think. Posting up there would likely garner good responses.

ligonierbill · March 10, 2025, 10:32 AM

Year of manufacture was 1905 (assuming you have a 12 gauge). The '00' was their basic grade until after 1914, when they changed from a number grade to 'Field'. I have one '00', a 16 made in 1911. You'll have to post pictures of your gun to go further with an assessment.

JasoninSD · March 23, 2025, 09:33 PM

Ron,

I have a 00 16 gauge made in 1910. Post a picture of what you have and I will see how mine compares.

And I don't think I have ever heard of a fake low grade (entry model) LC Smith. Not saying it couldn't be done, but if someone were going to make a fake I would think they would try to copy a higher grade.

Jason

JasoninSD · March 25, 2025, 09:19 PM

I just looked at a few LCs. The "00" from 1910 is a standard action and I also have a standard action "field" grade from sometime in the 20s. Comparing these to a couple featherweight actions, the featherweights each have an extra screw on each side plate, in the forward, skinny area of the side plate. I'm not sure off the the top of my head if the featherweight was an option in the early days but it seems with my examples there is a difference between the actions.

Hope this helps.

Ricklin · April 13, 2025, 12:33 PM

Perhaps there were changes over the years, all the LC Smith featherweight guns I have seen have a serial number that begins with FW. 1920 would have been under Hunter arms and AFAIK they added the FW on the serial number consistently.

March 6, 2025, 09:43 PM	#1
ronl Senior Member Join Date: December 2, 2007 Posts: 1,125	LC Smith 00 sxs Doing some research on LC Smith 00 shotgun serial number 303xxx. I am thinking it was made around 1911-1912. Properly marked with numbers on barrel and receiver. Problem is that the gun, when compared to others from the time period, it has more pins through the side plates. I am no expert whatsoever as far as shotguns are concerned, just trying to identify it properly for the owner. Were there later versions or fakes made with more pins through the side plates than the 1898-1922 versions of the guns? Will try to post pics later.

March 7, 2025, 01:16 PM	#2
Ricklin Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2008 Location: SW Washington state Posts: 2,329	I'm a fan of LC Smith guns, I only have one of 1918 vintage. Best trigger of any gun i own. I have not ever heard of any actions with Addl. pins, nor of any fakes or knock offs. I am not an expert by any stretch. There is an LC Smith collectors group LCsmith.org I think. Posting up there would likely garner good responses. __________________ ricklin Freedom is not free

April 13, 2025, 12:33 PM	#6
Ricklin Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2008 Location: SW Washington state Posts: 2,329	All of them? Perhaps there were changes over the years, all the LC Smith featherweight guns I have seen have a serial number that begins with FW. 1920 would have been under Hunter arms and AFAIK they added the FW on the serial number consistently. __________________ ricklin Freedom is not free

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March 10, 2025, 10:32 AM	#3
ligonierbill Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Posts: 2,637	Year of manufacture was 1905 (assuming you have a 12 gauge). The '00' was their basic grade until after 1914, when they changed from a number grade to 'Field'. I have one '00', a 16 made in 1911. You'll have to post pictures of your gun to go further with an assessment.

March 23, 2025, 09:33 PM	#4
JasoninSD Member Join Date: March 21, 2006 Posts: 96	Ron, I have a 00 16 gauge made in 1910. Post a picture of what you have and I will see how mine compares. And I don't think I have ever heard of a fake low grade (entry model) LC Smith. Not saying it couldn't be done, but if someone were going to make a fake I would think they would try to copy a higher grade. Jason

March 25, 2025, 09:19 PM	#5
JasoninSD Member Join Date: March 21, 2006 Posts: 96	I just looked at a few LCs. The "00" from 1910 is a standard action and I also have a standard action "field" grade from sometime in the 20s. Comparing these to a couple featherweight actions, the featherweights each have an extra screw on each side plate, in the forward, skinny area of the side plate. I'm not sure off the the top of my head if the featherweight was an option in the early days but it seems with my examples there is a difference between the actions. Hope this helps.