**L.C. Smith 4E 12 Gauge

12 Gauge. 30" barrel length. SN: 202868. 2.75" chamber length. Full chokes. Casehardened frame with blued barrels mounting English walnut semi-pistol grip stock and splinter forend, and featuring twin white and gold bead sights on a matted barrel rib. Double barrel side by side sidelock ejector shotgun featuring a single selector trigger, and a rubber recoil pad. Stock and forend feature bordered checkering with hardrubber semi pistol grip cap. The sideplates are engraved with the maker marking L.C. SMITH, with a banner on the barrel rib reading HUNTER ARMS CO FULTON N.Y. in engraved letters and featuring a gold forward border, and light border engraving along the breeches and dollshead. Nitro steel proofs visible over each barrel with 4E quality marking below the serial number on the barrel flats. Watertables are marked PATD JULY 13-86/PATD OCT 5-86. Forend ejector patent mark reads PAT'D MAY 28. 1901. Trigger plate is engraved HUNTER ONE TRIGGER and features gold inlaid L and R barrel selector markings, with the tang showing a similarly gold inlaid S safety mark. Sidpelates feature spiral scroll engraved flourishes enclosing bank note scroll vignettes of pointers. Triggerguard vignette shows two quail feeding among the brush. Sunburst flourishes adorn the barrel fences and hingepin. Shotgun features removable firing pin bushings with set screws. Timing of the engraved screws indicates the shotgun has been disassembled and maintained. Item comes with an L.C. Smith Collectors Association letter by James Stubbendieck affirming that this shotgun was finished on October 28, 1904, and inspected by William C. McKnight, the primary inspector of high grade shotguns produced by L.C. Smith before 1918. The records indicate it left the factory with 30 inch barrels and a splinter forend, but that records from before 1918 do not typically record the trigger configuration. Only 495 No. 4 pattern shotguns were produced between their introduction in 1894, and their replacement in 1914. 13.5" length of pull. 1.75" drop to comb. 2.75" drop to heel. 7.66 lbs weight. {C&R}

This lot is located in Cincinnati.

Very Good. Bores are Very Bright, but the left barrel has a small dimple on the lower surface 15" from the breech. Blued metal finish is strong on the barrels with some streaks, scratches, and muzzle wear. Abrasions to the lower barrels behind the muzzles. Frame finish is wearing to a mottled gray patina on the lower surfaces with the triggerguard having been buffed clean at some point leaving none of its blue remaining. A patch on the watertables is without finish, suggesting that it was likely buffed clean at some point. Some engraving details are weakening over the breeches and on barrel fences. Stock has some handling dents and wear with some skips to the checkering and scattered light dents. Wood to metal fit is tight with a chip on the edge of the upper tang near the safety, and some compression of the grain behind the tang. No cracks visible at tang. Action locks up tightly with the barrels on face and the lever resting right of center.

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October 17, 20, 21, or by appointment. Please contact the Auction Specialist for details.

Mr. Tim Carey

Associate Vice President, Head of Department, Arms, Armor and Militaria

[email protected]513.666.4984

Mr. Carey joined Cowan’s, a Freeman's company, in 2021 and is a 40-year veteran of the sporting arms and outdoor recreation industry. Carey joined Cowan’s from Griffin & Howe at Hudson Farms in Andover, N.J., where he was responsible for the acquisition, appraisal, and consignment of top-tier firearms consignments from important makers such as James Purdey & Sons of London, Beretta, Caesar Guerini, B. Rizzini, Bertuzzi, Renato Telo, and Anderson Wheeler.

Mr. Tim Prince

Senior Consulting Specialist, Arms, Armor & Militaria

[email protected]312 280 1212

Tim Prince has more than 30-years of experience in the field of antique and collectible arms and is a nationally recognized expert in the area of Civil War small arms. A long-time researcher and author, Tim has been a contributing author to two major books about Civil War firearms, including The English Connection: Arms, Material and Support Furnished to the Confederate States of America by Great Britain (2014) and Confederate Shotguns and Southern Agent Marked Shotguns (2017). He was also a major contributor to the recently updated Blue Book of Antique American Firearms & Values – 2nd Edition (2019) as well as the 2010 updates to the Civil War Collector's Price Guide - 12th edition. Over the last decade Tim has authored more than 50 articles on 19th century collectible and military arms, which have been published in such varied publications as Civil War News, North-South Trader, and Military Antique Collector. Since 2016 has appeared as a featured appraiser in the field of Arms & Militaria on the popular PBS television series Antiques Roadshow. He is a member of the American Society of Arms Collectors and currently serves on the board of directors of that organization. He is also a member of and formerly served on the board of directors of the Society of American Bayonet Collectors. Tim is a life member of the Ohio Valley Military Society, the Tennessee Military Collectors Association, the Alabama Military Collectors Association, is a member of the Company of Military Historians and is a member of numerous other colleting groups and societies. He is the owner of College Hill Arsenal, a web based antique and collectible arms retail web site, specializing in the American Civil War and related military items. Tim has engaged in the business of buying, selling, researching, and appraising antique and collectible arms and associated military items for some three decades. Since 2016 he has also served as a senior Consulting Specialist in the field of Arms, Armor & Militaria for Cowan’s Auctions, a Freeman's Company.

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**L.C. Smith 4E 12 Gauge

This lot is located in Cincinnati.

Please email [email protected] for any additional information or questions you may have regarding this lot.

Arms, Armor and Militaria

**L.C. Smith 4E 12 Gauge

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