l. c. smith speaks for itself · volume 2, issue 2 l. c. smith speaks for itself page 3 mr. kern,...

What had begun as an “Action Item” from an LCSCA Board of Directors’

Meeting developed into an event more interest-ing than the Super Bowl. Our Board of Directors’ goal was to increase club membership and extend coverage to the south and west. Tom Archer was given the chal-lenge of research-ing the possibili-ties “down his way”. Tom con-tacted Bill Kemp-fler of Deep River Shooting School in Sanford, North Carolina, to ob-tain information about displaying our LC Smith exhibit at the 5th Annual Southern Side-by-Side Event. As these two creative minds brainstormed about adding spark to the day, the friendly L.C.Smith vs. Parker Bros. shoot was conceived. It was then ex-panded to include Event 1 to be a charity shoot for all members, fol-lowed by Event 2, which included the top 10 scorers from both clubs to shoot for the Challenge Cup and for the top three shooters of both events receiving individual silver trophies.

The “icing on the cake” came with the seemingly young, inexperienced, upstart, under dog L.C.Smith team winning the Challenge Cup! Bravo!! A great time was had by all! With all attendees participating in shooting events and feasting on the barbecue.

In addition to winning the Challenge Cup, members of the L.C. Smith Col-lectors Associa-tion welcomed many visitors to our display who enjoyed viewing our rare beautiful L.C. Smith guns such as a Quality

7, 20ga. Deluxe, and several A2’s as well as various 1880 to 1910 original L.C. Smith Shooting Trophies and memorabilia. Many questions were answered, comments given, side-by-side experiences shared, and double gun enthusiasm enhanced. Save the last weekend in April 2005 to join the challenge and camaraderie at next years Southern Side by Side shoot. Mark your calendar to join us at our exhibits at the upcoming events! The

Volume 2, Issue 2 You Can Get Anywhere From Here!

You Can Get Anywhere From Here By Frank Finch, Jr., LCSCA Executive Director

June 2004

Special points of in-terest:

• Executive Director’s Notes.

• Early L.C. Smith History un-covered Part II.

• Member’s Forum Page

• L.C. Smith wins ...L.C. Smith wins

• L.C. Smith poetry

You Can Get Anywhere From Here

1

L.C.Smith, Maker, Syra-cuse, N.Y.– Part II

2

Smith Guns Win … Smith Guns Win

5

L.C.Smith—Side lock Paean

10

A Busy Time in Maryland 12

L.C.’s Show off at the Tulsa Show

13

Member’s Forum 14

L.C. Smith Classified & Yellow Page

16,17

Inside this issue:

L. C. Smith Speaks for Itself

Publ icat ion o f the LC Smith Col lectors Assoc iat ion

National Side-By-Side in Sunman, IN, May 14 - 16; the Ohio Gun Collectors Show in Willington, Ohio, July 10 -11; the Vintage Cup in Millbrook, NY, September 17 – 19, 2004.

(You Can Get Anywhere From Here Continued from page 1) You can get there from here! Join us and share the fun of being surrounded with our favorite American Side-by-Side’s, the L.C. Smith’s, and chat with other follow enthusiasts!

L. C. Smith Maker, Syracuse, New York—Part II The L.C. Smith Trophy By John N. Davis

PAGE 2 L . C. SMITH SPEAKS FOR ITSELF VOLUME 2 , ISSUE 2

In the first installment of our look at the history of the original L. C. Smith gun and its maker, Lyman C. Smith, we had the opportunity to take a tour of the Syracuse factory. As I stated in that article, “It has been said that Mr. Smith was more interested in typewriters than guns. I take exception to this statement.” Actu-ally, I have found that Mr. Smith was very active in his gun factory, as well as the marketing of his guns. By all accounts, he was very proud of the product he produced. Most gun manufacturers, including L. C. Smith, went about promoting their guns by making sure they were in the hands of professional trap shooters. These men were the pro basketball, baseball and football players of their day. The idea was much the same as today, i.e. Tiger Woods using a certain brand of golf clubs or wearing a particular brand of clothes. The trap shooters of the late 1800's, however, were not paid for their endorsement of the product, rather the gun com-pany would give, discount the price of, or loan a gun to the shooter. The professional was still expected to earn his living shooting at the various tourna-ments, matches and exhibitions

which were held throughout the country. When the shooter won a major tournament with a particular company’s gun, that company would then use this in their advertising. More on this aspect of promoting the gun in my next installment, with a bit of a twist. Now, this form of advertising was not the only method of promotion Lyman C. Smith relied upon.

He devised another plan whereby to market his guns, and it all unfolds in the pages of The American Field magazine. American Field, June 9, 1886:

The Illinois State Sportsmen’s Tournament

Mr. Charles Kern, the president of the Illinois State Sportsmen’s Association, in-forms us that he is determined that every effort shall be made to make the convention and tourna-ment of the association, which is to be held the present year under the auspices of the Audubon Club of Chicago, of which Mr. Kern is also president, the most brilliant meeting the association has ever had; and all who know Mr. Kern know that he says only what he means. The following letter from Mr. L. C. Smith, of Syracuse, N. Y., which has been handed us by

Lyman Cornelius Smith

L . C. SMITH SPEAKS FOR ITSELF VOLUME 2 , ISSUE 2

Mr. Kern, together with his reply accepting Mr. Smith’s liberal donation, for publication, will be read with satisfaction by those who are interested in the tournament, and Mr. Smith’s generosity will be appreciated. Following is Mr. Smith’s letter: Syracuse, N. Y., Aug. 22, 1885, Charles Kern, Esq., President of the Illinois State Sportsmen’s Association, Chicago, Ill. Dear Sir: - I take this occasion to address you upon the subject of donating to the Illinois State Sportsmen’s Association, a very fine trophy in the shape of a cup to be contested for at your next convention under certain conditions, which are as follows: The cup to be held in trust by the club under whose auspices the next convention is given; the proceeds arising from entrance fees to go to said club; the winner of the cup to again hold it in trust by executing bonds to the club that formerly held it, in the sum of not less than $500, to guarantee its being brought forth at the next convention, the win-ner to have 60 per cent of the entrance fees, the bal-ance, 40 per cent, to go to the club of which the winner is a member, and the entrance fees not to exceed $5 each; contest to be at 20 targets thrown from a trap, target to be the one in use at the con-vention at which the contest is held; at the first con-vention, only, all contestants to use an “L. C. Smith” gun which they have never shot before be-ing called to the score in which contest the cup is contested for; the writer will guarantee to have upon the grounds a sufficient number of the above mentioned guns to accommodate all who wish to enter the contest for the Smith Cup. I presented the New York State Sportsmen’s Association a trophy like the one I propose to pre-sent to your association, and the cup was contested for at our last convention which was held in our city June 22 to 27, of the present year, and I think that the arrangements were very satisfactory. I am very positive that they were especially so in the point of the contestants using our gun, as by actual figuring the shooters who used our gun which was entirely strange to them, did on the average of 21 per cent, better shooting than they had done in for-

(L.C.Smith Maker, Syracuse, NY, Part II Continued from page 2) mer contests using their own guns which they were entirely familiar with. Should you wish to, I would suggest that you correspond with Mr. Wm. Kirk, or our city, who was president of our convention, and he can tell you whether the arrangements met with favor or not. I would ask when your next convention is given? I should be pleased to hear from you at an early date. I mail you this day a photograph of the cup spoken of above, which will give you a fair idea of the design of the cup; it is certainly a very fine affair, and I think would do honor to your asso-ciation. Yours truly, L. C. Smith. The following is Mr. Kern’s reply to Mr. Smith: Chicago, Ill., September 2, 1885. L. C. Smith, Esq., Syracuse, N. Y.: My Dear Sir: - Absence from the city on a shooting trip has prevented me from acknowledg-ing sooner your favor of August 22. As President of the Illinois State Sports-men’s Association, and as president of the Audu-bon Club of Chicago, under whose auspices the next convention and tournament of the Illinois State Sportsmen’s Association will be held, permit me to thank you for your liberal offer of a cup to be shot for under conditions mentioned in your letter of August 22, and to say to you that I accept the same with thanks. Yours truly, Chas. Kern The contest for the L. C. Smith cup at the New York Sportsmen’s Association Tournament was held in Syracuse, N. Y., on Saturday, June 27, 1885. The cup was valued at $136.00. “At a busi-ness meeting of the delegates it was decided by vote that no contestant in this contest should use an

L. C. SMITH SPEAKS FOR ITSELF VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2

L. C. Smith that he had ever used.” The shoot was at 20 clay pigeons and A. Baker and Chas. Wagner, both of Pulteney, N. Y., and members of the Gene-see Club of Rochester, N. Y., tied on nineteen and chose to own the trophy jointly. (American Field, July 4, 1885). The contest for the L. C. Smith cup at the Twelfth Annual Tournament of the Illinois State Sportsmen’s Association, held at Grand Crossing, Ill., took place on June 8, 1886. Shooters selected guns on the grounds from the stock Mr. L. C. Smith had on hand for their use, free of charge. The cup was valued at $500 and contested for at 20 single Cleveland Blue Rock pigeons, from 3 Cleveland Blue Rock traps, 18 yards rise. The cup was won by J. R. “Big Foot” Stice of Jacksonville, Ill., breaking 19 out of the 20. My own man, Fred Kimble, tied for third with 16 but withdrew in the shoot off. In-terestingly enough, Stice and Kimble were both noted Parker men. Further more, this tournament occurred during a period when Fred Kimble was spending most of his time promoting his own inven-tion, the Peoria blackbird composition target, and this was the only event he partici-pated in during the entire three days of the state tournament. The opportunity to try out a Smith gun must have tanta-lized him. Among the other noted trap shoot-ers participating in this match and shooting an L. C. Smith, Syracuse gun, were L. S. Carter, H. H. Fahnestock, Abe Kleinman, J. J. Kleinman and R. B. Organ. (American Field, June 19, 1886) In 1888, Mr. Smith introduced the idea of a L. C. Smith Trophy in yet another state tournament, presenting the same to the Ohio Trap Shooters’ League. The announcement for the tournament, which appeared in the April 7, 1888, issue of Ameri-

(L.C. Smith, Maker, Syracuse, NY, Part II, Continued from page 3) can Field, read as follows: “The tournament of the Ohio State Trap Shooters’ League will be held at Galvin, Ohio, May 8, 9 and 10. The principal event will be for the Championship Cup, valued at $500, donated by L. C. Smith, of Syracuse, N. Y.” In the subsequent American Field account of the tournament it was reported, “The main fea-ture of the shoot was the magnificent solid silver cup, emblematic of the State Championship, do-nated by L. C. Smith, the Yankee gun-maker and sportsmen’s friend, whose name will never be forgotten by the trap shooters of this state.” There were 26 entries and the great Rolla Heikes won first place in the competition with a score of 29 out of 30. He used a Smith hammerless of 9 ½ pounds with 32 inch barrels. “As will be seen by the score, the Cleveland boy dropped his last bird, giving to R. Heikes the silver cup and title of Championship. Congratulations poured in rapidly on the Champion, and President Miller called Mr. Heikes before the vast crowd and in a neat little speech introduced Mr. Rolla Heikes to the people as Champion of the State of Ohio, as the shoot

was represented by the best shots in the state.” Consider that there were 20 contestants for the Smith cup at the New York tournament, 71 entries in Illinois and another 26 in Ohio. That’s 117 highly visible trap shooters all using L. C. Smith shotguns, many of them perhaps for the first time. These contests for the L. C. Smith Tro-phy were very successful and continued well after the sale of the gun com-

pany to the Hunters. So, was Mr. Smith more interested in typewriters than guns when he came up with the idea of an L. C. Smith Trophy? I believe the fore-going is proof that he was concentrating on pro-moting his gun and was quite innovative and ef-fective in his means of doing so.

The L.C. Smith Gun Factory Syracuse, N.Y.


great display. Our advance scouting report indicated that Friday (the 23rd) would be a slow day with the pri-mary action on Saturday. At our Directors meeting on Friday night, this scout was unanimously “fired”, for the action was non-stop from the moment we ar-rived until we were finally allowed to take down the display late Sunday afternoon! In the interim, visitor interest and traffic at the display was constant, mak-ing it impossible for any one person to greet and dis-cuss the L C Smith Collectors Association with all interested parties; so this was truly a Team effort. But that effort paid big dividends with eight new paying members and one complementary member-ship added to our roster. Additionally, many other

individuals, not prepared to make a commitment at the event, were delighted to learn of our organiza-tion and took ap-plication forms with promises of joining soon. An added bonus for us Smith fanciers was the opportu-nity to see and handle some really nice and unusual Smith guns of varying grades in ham-

mer and hammerless configuration. Some were just wonderful examples and in great condition! But, without question, the absolute highlight of our weekend, and arguably, the highlight of the entire Southern Side x Side was the L C Smith vs. Parker Challenge. To fully describe the event, and the electrically charged atmosphere surrounding

(Continued on page 6)

Smith Guns Win … Smith Guns Win By Tom Archer

The much discussed and long anticipated, first ever L C Smith vs. Parker Challenge Cup event took place on April 24, 2004 at the Deep River Shooting School in Sanford, North Carolina with a most satisfying , although surprising to some, outcome. Simply stated, Team Smith virtu-ally swept the event; with only a third place finish by Team Parker in the Top Gun individual awards category keeping the brooms discretely stowed inside the closet. But what an exciting and fun event for everyone, regardless of brand affiliation! From the very beginning, the pace at the Southern Side x Side event was frenetic. Smith Association Executive Director, Frank Finch, along with fellow Directors Len Applegate, and Tom Archer met early on the morn-ing of April 23rd, found the assigned display booth; and, under the careful and professional supervision of Frank’s lovely bride, Mary Anne, quickly began the task of setting up the most appealing display at the en-tire event (and yes there is just a little bias in this opin-ion). With impec-cable timing, Director Bill Win-ter arrived with the display backdrop and the Smith team finished their display in short order. Director Jim Stubendieck and Andy Anderson ar-rived shortly afterwards. Team Smith also got gen-erous helping hands from members Doug Upchurch and his wife, along with John Bleimaier and his significant other. All these ladies were tre-mendous and brought additional “class” to our

L.C. Smith Display at the Southern Side-by-Side Sanford , N.C.


same, will be an impossible task; but this intrepid reporter will endeavor to make that attempt if kind readers will “uninhibit” their imaginative powers. The tale goes something like this: Team Parker was well prepared and arrived early with a good contingent. Before Team Smith could finish their display, Team Parker already had the names of 18 shooters prominently displayed on their sign-up list! This gap was slowly closed by Team Smith so that by the qualifying deadline on Saturday, Team Parker had 30 shooters and Team Smith had 21. This total of 51 par-ticipants surpassed even the most optimis-tic projections from either side and was the clearest indicator of the tremendous interest in the event. Adding to the “drama” and fun were the good-natured insults swapped be-tween the adjoining booths, as both teams jockeyed for new mem-bers and some un-known psychological advantage. Throughout the entire day on Friday and Saturday the most popular venue was the 5-stand, as operators were kept busy with a backlog of Smith and Parker shooters getting in practice rounds. The really odd occurrence from all this practice was that so many shooters shot what were later determined to be extremely good scores; then “choked” in their qualifying round. Yes, CHOKE became the operative word of the day; and so many very fine shooters from each organization qualified for a position on “TEAM CHOKE” that the same comment, “I don’t understand what happened, I’ve never shot that bad in my life” was about all the dazed, disappointed, and bewildered participants could utter. Many of these shooters shot practice rounds

(L.C. Smith Wins, Continued from page 5) of 19, 20, and even 22 on Friday, just knowing in their hearts they were good for a 23, 24, or possi-bly even that elusive straight on Saturday morning; but “when ifs and buts are candy and nuts, every-one will have a Merry Christmas” they say, and it just couldn’t be that simple!. Saturday morning dawned beautiful and pristine, with low humidity and pleasant tempera-tures. Excited shooters arrived early, purchased 5-stand tickets, and migrated to the field to take their

turns at one final practice round before shooting that long anticipated event one qualifying round. Unfortunately for most of us, everyone seemed to have the same idea. The field quickly became back-logged with shooters; and some waiting times were in excess of two hours! After weeks of waiting, an extra hour or two was no major dilemma to the good-natured mem-bers of the Smith and Parker teams; but, as

the shooting began, moderate winds began to stir. These winds mostly pushed targets away from the shooter with a resulting significant impact on scores! Suddenly, fast and low “zingers” were faster and lower; and the high “loopers” and “sailers” were higher, faster, and further away (possibly 45-50 yards), meaning major adjust-ments to lead and timing. This 5-stand layout was quite interesting and challenging; open on the front side with a tall tree-line at the sides and back. Another very inter-esting element to the layout was the 20’ tall, lone “bushy” sycamore tree smack in the middle of the field. One trap threw a low screamer just over and slightly left of this tree; two other traps sailed high “loopers” over the same obstacle. With the wind,

The L.C. Smith team Back row: Tom Martin, J.D. Shank, Bob Mathews, Tom Archer, John Bleimaier, Don Nickerson Front Row: Bob Behrend, Jim Reid, Steve Arnett, Kevin Brooks


the low screamer often smashed into the tree be-fore the shooter could get on target, a lost “bird”; and, on the pairs, the high “loopers” were often obscured from view, lost behind the same tree! The bottom line: this was a setup that would chal-lenge any shooter; and only a few brave souls took on this challenge with anything less than a 12-bore. During event one, choke (bore) constriction was a subject hotly debated, with shooters swear-ing by every conceivable configuration from cyl-inder bore to extra full; but the shooters, not the guns, seemed to be the one single element a little over CHOKED! As morning wore on, the humidity in-creased and it got just plain hot! Shady spots and water coolers were sud-denly in great demand. Team members, realiz-ing squads were being moved as quickly as possible, took that op-portunity to renew old friendships and meet and make new friends. The fellowship was tre-mendous, and the gun racks were a joy to be-hold; just overflowing with stacks of interest-ing Smith and Parker guns gleaming in the sunlight. But the most amazing thing was watching the shooters. Time and again shooters scoring 20-22 in their practice rounds, and with a hard-earned reputation of “ringer”, were scoring in the 14-16 range in the qualifier round! At the same time, Joe average was, in many instances, shooting just a bit above his usual score; so that when qualifying was fin-ished it was anyone’s guess as to the ten shooters to compete in the Team Championship event. As the dust settled, representatives from Team Parker and Team Smith met with Southern Side x Side host, Bill Kempfler, to review the re-sults of event one and determine the respective 10-man team squads. As scores were reviewed, ob-

(L.C. Smith Wins, Continued from page 6) servers instantly realized just how evenly matched the competing teams would be; with scores for Team Parker ranging from a high of 21 to a low of 16, and Team Smith scores ranging from 22 to 16! The competitors shook hands, wished each other well, and the “showdown” was set for 4PM. Both team leaders, Mark Conrad for Team Parker and Tom Archer for Team Smith, began scram-bling to locate respective shooting team members. As this event was quite well attended and covered such a large area, this task was also a “challenge”. Eventually each team located all but one qualifier and adjusted the “eleventh” man to their team. In the case of Team Smith, the next highest score was 15, another indicator that this event was designed for the typical shooter/collector and not for the

pros. For Team Parker the shooters were: Roger Bain, Buddy Marson, Boyce Hudson, Frank Halsy, Crile Crisiter, Bill Blackstone, Roger Giles, Jeff Mulli-gan, Jay Bunting, and Carl Beers. Team Smith was represented by J D Shank, John Bleimaier, Jim Reid, Steve Arnett, Bob Behrend, Kevin Brooks, Bob Mathews, Tom Martin, Don Nick-

erson, and Tom Archer. The final event was very well attended

in spite of the heat and lack of shade. Each team gathered at the appointed hour and team leaders met to determine which team would take the field first. Suspense was high as Rich Anderson of the Parker Association gathered Mark and Tom for the coin toss. Tom was asked to ”call it in the air” and called “tails”! Tails it was and Tom elected to have one of his squads shoot first. Now there was some logic to this reason-ing, for the evening sun had now become a major factor as it slowly settled behind the tree line. Compounding the glare it produced was the


J. D. Shank receives the “TOP GUN” award from Tom Archer and Mark Conrad


shaded background created by those aforementioned tall trees, especially a couple of very large Loblolly pines! The problems created by these factors were two-fold. First of all, glare generated by the sun would make it impossible to see the orange domes on the clays thrown near the wood line for most of their flight path. Secondly, the tall shaded back-ground made the high looping targets coming from the wood line impossible to see until they could be silhouetted above the tree line. Wind was no longer a factor, but it was evident that shoot-ing as soon as pos-sible would be the only solution avail-able to minimize, to some degree, the negative impact from these obsta-cles. For Team Smith, high scorers J D Shank and Kevin Brooks were appointed squad leaders; and, with exhortations of “keep your head down”, “get out in front and follow thru”, and “make sure you break that first bird”; J D’s squad took their positions. There would be no “easy” targets that af-ternoon, but our first squad worked hard and did us proud; smashing 83 out of a possible 125 targets. The Smith Team had no idea as to how this score may or may not hold up as the first squad for Team Parker took the field; but took some consolation in the knowledge that their targets would be slightly more difficult as lighting conditions further deterio-rated on the field. Team Parker shot well and time flew as fast as the targets. As the smoke cleared, round one of the championship event ended, and members from both teams crowded around the scorers table for the results. To Executive Director Frank Finch’s tremen-dous relief, Team Smith held a ten-target lead at the

(L.C.Smith Wins, Continued from page 7) midway point! Team Smith again took their sta-tions for their final 125 targets intent on maintain-ing, and possibly, increasing that lead. But, in real-ity, if they could only maintain that margin Team Parker would be forced to have an extremely strong final round to take the cup. That plan was simple, sound, and even logical; but was not so easy to execute. When the smoke again cleared, squad two left the field amid some dread and ap-prehension; fearing a low score. Sure enough, the second squad did indeed back-up; but only slightly

with a final score of 82. This cracked open the door; but only slightly, as Team Parker still had to score a final round 93 to take the cup. Team Parker took their positions for the fi-nal time amid loud cheers of support from the side-lines and proceeded to break targets at a dizzy-ing rate. With every break, the sidelines roared! Frank practiced his concession speech. But then the misses be-

came a little more frequent and the cheers slowly faded to looks of conster-nation. The final true pair

was scored “pair lost”; then round two was com-plete. Everyone knew it would be close. Frank walked slowly to the scorer’s table and took a quick look. From his expression it was clear that Team Smith must be gracious in defeat. Just as he was preparing to make this pronounce-ment, the scorer stood up and loudly proclaimed; Team Smith – 165; Team Parker – 160! Team Smith roared with jubilation. Never did onlookers see a more proud and happy bunch of “Old Codg-ers” (and one young guy)! What an afternoon! Amid cheers, high-fives, and shouts of “we be bad!” congratulations overflowed. But the best thing was the fact that everyone, regardless of brand loyalty thought the event was a fantastic


Kevin Brooks receives runner-up “TOP GUN” award from Tom Archer and Mark Conrad


success. After the obligatory photo session, onlook-ers slowly made their way to the pig pickin’, as Mark and Tom handled the post game analysis to determine individual awards. The most interesting fact immediately apparent was the individual scores themselves. Out of a total of 20 shooters, only three had shot a better score in the team championship event than in the qualifying rounds; and those only marginally (two shooters by one target and one shooter by two). One shooter shot the same score in both events and all the other shooters went backwards; testament to the strain of competition and the fact that those late evening targets were indeed difficult. As scores were tallied for the individual awards, experience and consistency earned Team Smith member J D Shank the TOP GUN first place award, as he edged out our youthful Smith Team member Kevin Brooks in a close race 41 to 40. Bill Blackstone and Jay Bunting from Team Parker tied for third place with 37s, but Bill was awarded the tro-phy based on the long streak tie-breaker rule. That is how close Team Smith came to execut-ing a “tri-fecta” in the individual awards category and a “clean sweep” in an event where some of our beloved Smith Directors, who shall remain un-named, felt we would be humiliated! Way to go TEAM! These awards were presented before a large crowd just before the evening bar-be-que, and the

(L.C.Smith Wins, Continued from page 8) pride and satisfaction felt by Team Smith was inde-scribable. After dinner, both teams congregated around their booths. Team Smith members cele-brated by sharing some cold, sparkling champagne from the first ever CHALLENGE CUP and shared beverages, laughs, and more good-natured barbs with Team Parker. So much fun was had that the Smith booth was secured long after dark with the aid of flashlights. In the end, this event was successfully re-ceived and enjoyed more than any of us could have imagined for something conceived and put together basically at the “eleventh” hour. In addition to the event itself, our charity ef-fort not only met its goal of $500, but that goal was exceeded! Several generous individuals who were not members of either organization contributed just because they believe in the work of Habitat for Hu-

manity. But now that Team Smith “owns” the CHAL-LENGE CUP, it must be defended! Come April, 2005 it is up for grabs again; and, as be-fore, it is winner take all! If you had to miss the event this year, mark your calendars now. No one in attendance regrets being there; and best of all, since this is a long-term commitment, the fun is just now be-ginning! As Team Smith prepares to

defend our championship, consider these two com-ments by members of the Parker contingent after the event: “Man I don’t like losin’, but I’ve never been to a shooting event where I’ve had so much fun! You guys earned that cup and I hope you enjoy it, but just don’t get too fond of that thing. We’ll be

Tom Martin, Drew Bowman, Bob Mathews, Kevin Brooks, J.D. Shank, John Bleimaier, Frank Finch and

Casey Sue with the trophy


ready next year and I can’t wait!”; the other was something like this, “ While you Smith guys spend this year gluing your stocks back together, we’ll be working on our game. That cup will be ours next year!” As a member of this fine organization, it is my hope that the great support generated by mem-bers for this first ever CHALLENGE CUP event is just a token of the support it will receive going for-ward. With the winning per gun average of 16.5 targets to 16.0 for the losing side two facts are ob-vious. First of all, we have much room for im-provement; and secondly, this is not a shooting event dominated by great shooters. Even our illus-

(L.C. SmithWins, Continued from page 9) trious Executive Director, Frank Finch, a self de-scribed “choke artist” scored a 17 at the 5-stand on Sunday morning after the pressure was off! The point is that this event is wide-open to all shooters and our goal is to keep it that way so that everyone has a chance to make the final round cut. So let’s enjoy this wonderful achievement over the next 12 months; do a little bragging and swap some good natured bards with our Parker friends. But in the interim, take that old Smith out to the local range and shoot some clays. It’s a great way to spend some time with and old friend and get ready for next April and a weekend of fun and fel-lowship you will never forget, win or (perish the thought) lose.

L.C.Smith—Sidelock Paean (dedicated to “Elsie”) By John Bleimaier

For many long years there's been a dispute Among the fanciers of smoothbores of top repute. The question of who built America's finest double Has caused many arguments and endless trouble. An aura of magic, of wonder and myth Surrounds the reputation of the shotguns of L.C. Smith. Yet there are certainly numerous others Who praise the products of Parker Brothers. It was not just a round of "5 stand" for fun When we settled this question on the field at Deep Run. Two gallant teams took their weapons to the line As the targets flew fast in the Carolina sunshine. When the smoke of the contest did finally clear The partisans of Smith gave out a mighty cheer. Old "Elsie," the side lock, has proven her mettle All the sons of Hunter Arms are now in fine fettle! April 2004

L.C. Smith/Parker Challenge Cup


Editors note: When I started collecting American Double guns, L.C. Smith and Parker were my favorites. Upon meeting Parker Gun Collector Association members, I was impressed with their knowledge of the Parker Gun and their friendliness to other collectors. All of the directors of the L.C. Smith Collectors Association received the fol-lowing letter from the Directors of the Parker Gun Collectors Association. This is truly a “Class” letter from a “Class” organization. If you collect the Parker Gun, I suggest you join the Parker Gun Collectors Association too...but shoot your Smith.


A Busy Time in Maryland By Andy Anderson

The second annual, four day long, L.C. Smith Collectors weekend in Maryland has come and gone. What an eventful and exciting four days it was! Our Exhibit My Buddy, Odd Skadberg, and I arrived at the Maryland Gun Collectors Show in Timonium in mid-afternoon on Friday March 19th. By that time, Bill Winter and friends had already set up a beautiful display. The title was “In Celebration of the Chesapeake; Three Inch, Long Range and Wa-terfowl Guns”. The display incorporated a num-ber of antique duck decoys borrowed from the Harve de Grace Decoy Museum. We thank Mr. Pat Vincenti for their loan. The centerpiece of the display was the brand new “L.C. Smith vs Parker Challenge Cup”. Hand-some indeed. Kudos to Bill Winter for again pro-ducing such an attractive and interesting display. The display was main-tained through Saturday and Sunday with several of our members available to take questions from the public. These individuals included Frank Finch, Mary Anne Finch, Bill Winter, Jim Stubbendieck, Oddvar Skadberg, Len Applegate, and, once in a while, yours truly. The dis-play received an attractive award from the Maryland Arms Collector Association. Board of Directors Meet-ing Six of the seven Directors attended the scheduled board meeting on Friday night. The meeting was held in Frank and Mary Anne

Finch’s motel room. Attending were Executive Di-rector Frank Finch and Directors Applegate, Stub-bendieck, Trefry, Winter, and Anderson. Mary Anne Finch and Oddvar Skadberg were also on hand to keep the Directors on course. The Second Annual Dinner Meeting The dinner meeting was held at the Turf Inn, just outside the Maryland State Fairgorunds, on Sat-urday evening, March 20th. Members attending in-cluded Len Applegate, Clarence Bowman, Tom Breeden, Charlie Brooks, Frank Finch and Mary Anne Finch, Norm Growden, J.D. Shank, Odvar Skadberg, Jim Stubbendieck, Bob Trefry, Bill Win-ter, and Andy Anderson. After a pleasant interlude for cocktails and hors d’ouvres, Executive Director Frank Finch called the

Annual Meeting to order at precisely seven. The meeting proceeded smoothly. Fisticuffs were held to a minimum and the police were not called. I understand that Frank still owes several members a libation be-cause of the loss of a bet regarding the length of time certain Director’s report would take. Fol-lowing the meeting, we all enjoyed sharing a

good meal together. Thank you Bob Trefry for making the arrangements. Shooting our L.C.’s at Pintail Point Monday morning,

March 22nd, nine shooters gathered at Pintail Point for our second annual all L.C. Smith Sporting Clays Fun Shoot. This year we broke up into two shooting


L.C.Smith Collectors Display at Mary-land Arms Collectors Show

Jim Stubbendieck, Mary Anne Finch, Bill Winter, Frank Finch, Andy Anderson, Oddvar Skadberg, Len Applegate


parties. Charlie Brooks, Drew Bowman, Bill Win-ter, and Andy Anderson were in the first party. Charlie commented that it may have been a hundred years since three of four persons in a shooting party were all using L.C.Smith hammer guns. The second party included Len Applegate, John Bleimaier, Tom Breeden, Frank Finch, and J.D. Shank. Some Shoot-ers shot fifty targets, with the rest shooting a hun-dred. Breeden and Shank tied with top honors of 38 each on the first fifty Sporting Clays targets. Some of us took advantage of Pintail Point’s Five Stand set

(A Busy Time in Maryland, Continued from page 12) up after completing the Sporting Clays. As my shooting approached completion for the day, my right thumb no longer had the strength to cock the hammers of my L.C.Smith 16 gauge hammer gun. I think everyone enjoyed shooting despite the cold, windy day. Eight of the nine shooters, augmented by Mary Anne Finch, Oddvar Skadberg, and Odd’s and my friend Ted Schimpff joined to-gether for a very late lunch at nearby Fisherman’s Inn. Thank you Charlie Brooks for setting up a great shooting Day.

L.C.’s Show off at the Tulsa Show By Andy Anderson

Down the highway, heading west, drive, drive, drive; 1400 miles to Tulsa, Oklahoma and the world’s largest gun show with 3800 tables. They probably average seven and a half feet long. That means its about a five and a half mile walk just to see every table just once. Friday, April 20, I began hauling loads of goodies from the S.U.V. to our display tables. I had just made my fifty third, or possibly my fifth, trip when my buddy, Rich Beyer, ap-pears out of the maze. Rich and I then set up the new table covers and backboards. Thanks Rich. Jim Stubbendieck drove down from Lin-coln, Nebraska, picking up Frank Finch at the Tulsa Airport on his way. John and Walker Houchins drove up from Houston, Texas. That was our crew. Our Display was-n’t very big, but I think it was damn nifty. The queen bee centerpiece was the much celebrated “L.C. Smith vs Parker Challenge Cup”. She was

attended by some beautiful original L.C. memora-bilia, including a prize vase, pictures and catalogs. One rack featured six lovely hammerless L.C.’s in six different gauges. A second rack featured six nice L.C. hammer guns. Through the weekend, we tended the dis-play and answered many, many questions. A half

of a box of membership brochures were handed out. Six new members joined at the show. It wasn’t all tending though, Frank Finch and John Houchins each found a new L.C. treasure. Nice working with you, crew. Down the highway, head-ing east, drive, drive, drive...

John Houchins and Jim Stubbendieck at the L.C. Smith display in Tulsa Photo by Mark Wanenmacher


Member’s Forum

Collector’s Note Dean Rasmussen of Simi Valley, Califor-nia writes that he has in is collection , a 20 gauge L.C. Smith, serial number 5708, grade 3E. On the stock is a 1– 5/8 inch round brass medallion con-taining the inscription: “Presented to Geo. W. Tiller by Fred W. Myers as a token of Apprecia-tion for Recovery of Jewels from the Jefferson Ho-tel Burned March 29,1901”. The lavishly built Jefferson Hotel in Rich-mond, Virginia was the creation of tobacco mag-nate, Lewis Ginter, who invested more than $1.5 million in the realization of his dream. The hotel opened its doors, 31 October 1895, and a week later illustrator Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944) married twenty-year old Irene Langhorne there. Irene was reputedly the infamous “Gibson girl,” who the artist had created sometime before. Among the wedding guests who lodged at the ho-tel was actress Ethel Barrymore. The identity of George G. Tiller or Fred W. Myers is presently unknown. Undoubtedly, Myers

was forced to leave the burning hotel late in the eve-ning of March 29th, 1901 without his belongings and possibly wife’s jewelry. Tiller was probably a hotel employee who recovered the jewelry and, in appreciation, Myers presented him with the shotgun now in Rasmussen’s collection. The hotel was reno-vated and reopened and is still in existence. If any-one knows anything about Tiller or Myers, Rasmus-sen would appreciate a call or note. C.A.Rasmussen 2360 Shasta Way Simi Valley, CA 93065-1800 (805)527-9330 Office (805)527-2110 Fax For a brief history see Emily J. Salmon, “The Belle of the Nineties: Richmond’s Jefferson Hotel, 1895-1995,” Virginia Cavalcade (1995), 45(1):4-15. Spe-cial thanks are extended to Louis Alan Talley, Wash-ington. D.C., for locating this article.

Member Rich Beyer has published a book on Hunter Arms. It is 80 pages and full of information and photos on Hunter Arms and the employees. Rich has lived in the Sterling Valley of Upstate New York near Fulton for a long time and has spent a lot of that time compiling this history and interviewing the few surviving employees of Fulton’s most famous employer. He will gladly send you a copy of his book if you send $20.00 plus $2.00 shipping to him at 1560 Co. Rt 4, Central Square, NY 13036. I’m going to get my copy signed by the author.


Membership Updates and Newsletter Notes By Len Applegate

Membership Since March 2004 the L.C. Smith Collectors Association membership has grown from 100 to 164 membership. A review of membership rules is in order. L.C. Smith Collectors Association Annual Dues of $25.00 run from January first to December 31st. If a new member joins by paying his annual dues at some point during the calendar year, the Newsletter Publisher will mail that new member all of the newsletters that have been mailed to date in the calendar year joined along with an Annual Mem-bership Certificate. A bill for the next year’s dues will be mailed to all Annual members along with the December Newsletter. The dues are to be paid be-fore February first of the next year. A listing of the members of record as of February first will be in-cluded with the March newsletter. Those Annual members who have not paid by February first will be removed from the membership list and will not ap-pear on the list mailed with the March newsletter. Annual members can determine what calen-dar year that the Organization considers them paid for by looking at the mailing label on the newsletter envelop. “Annual 2004” will appear under the members address if the organization considers them an Annual member whose dues are paid for the 2004 calendar year. An Annual member can convert his or her membership to a Life membership during a calendar year that he or she has paid their annual dues by pay-ing the difference between the $25.00 annual dues and the $300.00 life membership dues, or $275.00 before December 31st. Life members can be elected to a Directors office in the annual election that occurs in December of each year. A committee will nominate a slate of Life members that are willing to serve the organiza-tion and a ballot will be mailed to all members of record with the December newsletter. The top two vote getters on that ballot will serve three year terms beginning January first of the next year. Two Direc-tors are elected each year.

As of May 31st of this year we have 164 members from 37 states. The breakdown by state is as follows AK-1 AL-4 AR–3 AZ- 2 CA-5 CT-4 DE-1 GA-9 IL-9 IN-5 KS-1 KY-2 LA-1 MA-1 MD-11 MI-9 MN-5 MO-3 MS-3 MT-1 NC-11 NE-1 NJ-4 NM-1 NV-1 NY-16 OH-3 OK-2 OR-3 PA-14 SC-6 TN-2 TX-10 VA-6 VT-1 WA-1 WI-4 Newsletter The L.C. Smith Collectors Association publishes a newsletter quarterly, in March, June, September, and December. We encourage all members to write articles about collecting the L.C,Smith, shooting the L.C.Smith, or the people involved with building the L.C. Smith or shooting the L.C. Smith. They don’t have to be literary masterpieces and pictures are welcome. If you e-mail the text and pictures to Len Applegate at [email protected] I would prefer that the text be in Microsoft Word format and pictures in *.jpg files. Call me at (513)777-1946 or e-mail me with questions. The cut-off date is a month before pub-lication. The L.C.Smith Yellow Page is a free ser-vice to dealers who are members to list their con-tact information. Advertising that includes art work in business card size is $50.00 for four issues for members and $100.00 for four issues for non-members. A Members Forum page is for mem-bers to submit short articles similar to the forum or “chat room” currently found on the organization website www.lcsmith.org. If you believe that you have not gotten your newsletter or it is dam-aged in transit please contact Len Applegate for a replacement.


L. C. Smith Collectors Association Mem-bership Application. Make checks Payable to “The L. C. Smith Collectors Association, Inc” Please send this application and you 2004 dues to : Bob Trefry 5104 Salima ST Clinton, MD 20735 Membership type:

Name: Annual $ 25.00

Address: Phone: E-mail:

Check here if you would prefer your address and phone not to be included in the published list

Life $ 300.00

Dutchman Wood Works: Reproduction Butt Plates & Grip Caps Stock-making Repairs and Restorations. Larry Schuk-necht (716)741-2335 www.dutchmanwoodworks.com E-mail:[email protected] 7750 Salt Road, Clarence Center, N.Y. 14032 Galazan 35 Woodland St. New Britain, CT 06051 (800)515-4867 Contact: Tony Galazan Specialty: Fine Doubles and Accessories

Freer Gun shop, Inc.: Fine Vintage Shotguns and Rifles Sales, Appraisals, Restoration Contact: Richard Freer 8928 Spring Branch Drive Houston, Texas 77080 (713)467-3016 Fax:(713)467-2032

L. C. Smith Yellow Page


L. C. Smith Classifieds The L.C. Smith Collectors Association accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of the seller’s description. All negotiations are strictly between the buyer and seller. The buyer and seller are responsible for complying with all applicable state and federal laws.

FOR SALE: Field grade feather weight 12ga pistol grip stock in very good condition no crack showing no butt pad but the pistol grip cap is there and in good condi-tion ser # 325XX $350.00 contact; Bill Winter at [email protected]

WANTED: L.C. Smith Grade 1 in 20 ga and Grade A-1 in 16 ga. Collectors quality. Will consider trade for other L. C. Smith guns possible. Frank 732-899-1498 L.C. Smith, GRADE 2, 16 gauge, with game scenes. Steel or damascus barrels. Collector quality. Andy 845-657-8491 OO steel or damascus barrels, collector quality. Len Applegate (513)777-1946 L.C.Smith field grade up to #2 & Trap any condition even those missing parts. Serial numbers 39000 and under. Pete (763)494-4057 Push button forend parts needed prefer complete forend however any parts for the latching mecha-nism desired contact; Bill Winter at shotgunwilllie@ aol.com L.C.Smith field grade, 16 gauge, 28 or 30 inch bar-rels in good condition, original only. Mike (281)398-6508 [email protected] Greetings L.C. Smith enthusiasts. I’m a great-great-grandson of the Hunter family who owned the Com-pany at the turn of the century, and beginning to do research for our mutual benefit. I would be inter-ested to hear from anyone with historical informa-tion and/or memorabilia for this study. I can be con-tacted at: Ken Baumgardt, 49 N. Old Baltimore Pike, Newark, DE 19702, 302-286-6223 [email protected]

The purpose of The L.C. Smith Collectors Association is:

1. To Stimulate and educate members and the public in their

knowledge of the history and production of the L.C. Smith shot-

gun.

2. To support the Cody Museum in utilization of the surviving L.C.

Smith records.

3. To encourage creation of a L.C. Smith museum.

4. To encourage the value of good sportsmanship to members and

the public.

5. To promote a positive and responsible use of firearms to mem-

bers and the public.

Organization Address: For the time being you can reach us in care of, L. C. Smith Collectors Association C/o Len Applegate 6709 Windwood Dr. Cincinnati, OH 45241

PUBLICATION OF THE LC SMITH COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION

Phone: 513-777-1946 Email: [email protected] www.lcsmith.org

L.C. Smith the gun that speaks for itself

l. c. smith speaks for itself · volume 2, issue 2 l. c. smith speaks for itself page 3 mr. kern,...

Documents