Hey Dave Parks!!!!!!!!

John Augustine

John Augustine

Well-known member
Hi Dave, You seem to be the resident gun specialist so here is my question. I have an old DH Parker that I have been shooting with very light loads and it needs to be retired for my own good. Have you seen the New LC Smith
guns being made in Italy for Marlin? There are none in this area and I hate to buy one without seeing one first. I don't collect guns so this is a major purchase for me. Is there something else you would recomend. I shoot left handed so I need a neutral stock. Thanks for any help
John
 
Hi John,

From what I hear, Marlin's re-make (via Italy) of the L.C. Smith double is pretty hard to come by at present.

MARLINLCSMITH1.jpg

The MSR on the gun is $1,885.00 a price that is a bit high for what you would be getting (non-ejector, etc.). The real drawback for you, being a lefty is the fact that this gun comes with a 1/4" advantage right cast off in their stocks which is made for instinctive shooting for right handed shooters. LIke you said, it's best to see and try one in person. One of my Spanish 3" 20 ga. doubles has this cast off to the right, but being right handed it feels good to me.

To my eyes, this new Marlin is not even close in looks to an original Hunter Arms L.C. Smith. It just looks like a nice Italian double to me. Look at the action and side plates, it has no resemblance to an L.C. Smith. The only thing that comes close is the fine line checkering pattern that is much like the high grade "Elsie's" and Parker's.

Some other options would be.....looking at the CZ Ringneck or looking for a nice clean used L.C. Smith. And you could get a really nice one for less than what the Marlin replica goes for. Take the time and look on Auction Arm dot Com for a week or two and you will see what original L.C.'s are going for as well as the CZ's and others. I have found that all the other "gun-auction-sites" are WAY over-priced. All of my best buys have been on auctionarms.com.

Look around and see what other choices there are before you make up your mind John.........that's my advice.

Dave
 
Remington is really starting to come out of it's den with new guns for 2007. I have never seen Remington so involved with new guns as they are this year.

Firts off, they have a Premier line of new O/U's and a new SXS that is pretty eyecatching and in the same price range as Marlin's so-called L.C. Smith. The new double comes in a strait stock (English style) as well as a pistol grip style. They come in 12, 20, 28 & 410 bore. Get your hands on a Remington catalog and take a look. I imagine these new O/U's and SXS's are also made in Italy.

The other good news from Remington is.....they have bought out Parker Shotguns and will be marketing these guns as well.

If you want, I will keep my eyes open for a nice original L.C. Smith for you?

Dave
 
Thanks Dave, I'll take your advise and look around for a while. I'm in no hurry as long as I get to shoot before the summer is over. I'll look at the Remingtons and at auctionarms .
Thanks Again John
 
John,

Here's a cherry old Number 1 Elsie 12 ga. hammer gun in great shape for it's age. If you were into shooting older hammer doubles with damascus barrels and loading up old brass 12 ga. shells with black powder and Bismouth like Sutton and I do, you have a ball both upland and waterfowl hunting with a double like this one. Look at all the original case colors, a real sweety.

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=7810194&aa=%20Smith,%20L.%20C.%20%20L.C.%20Smith%20Type%20One%20%2012%20gauge%20hammer%20SXS

Dave
 
Very nice. Get a hold of Sherman Bell (? sp.) who writes in the Double Gun Journal. He has been doing a ton of research on Safe loads with pressure data in PSI for older, "Quality Damascus" double guns. Very interesting and shootable. Wish I knew about it before he started. You used to be able to buy them for short money due to the bias against the barrel const..
 
That is a great looking gun Dave but the reason I am shying away from the DH is it has a TWIST barrel. I have been shooting it for quite a while, but not for ducks since we had to use steel shot. I know that twist and damascus are not the same but my gun is very tight. Everyone I know thinks I'm crazy to shoot it at all.
I'm just afraid to prove them right!!!!
John
 
John,

It all depends on what you want to shoot. I shoot evrything from 12 ga. percussion muzzleloaders with Twist Steel barrels to damascus hammer doubles using brass cases and handloadrd with black powder and if I want to hunt ducks I load them with 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 oz. of Bismouth and they work fine. They are just more work at the end of the day when it comes to cleaning them.

I have a very nice Spencer Gun Company 12 ga. with damascus barrels that have been shooting modern low base loads ithru it for over 35 years. If you saw the gun you'd know why it can take these modern low base loads......the barrels at the reciever are nearly a 1/4 in thicj and the gun is as tight as the dau it was made. I also have a 1910 vintage Crescent Arms hammer double with steel barrels that I have been shooting 12 ga. 2 3/4" magnum loads thru it for years.

But, I understand what you are looking for....a nice new double that has the feel of the old DH and yet will shoot all of the loads needed for waterfowl and up-land game. Those new Remingtons I told you about come in 3" and screw in chokes, which really makes the gun versital. You'll come across something you'll like. There are plenty of obtions out there. BTW Remington has also come out with a less expensive line of doubles that look pretty nice and should be around $600 I think.

Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top