Christmas Present - L C Smith Long Range

[Rick Roemer]

Wow, that old ad mentions consistent kills at 80 yards! Someone needs to try patterning at that distance. Ha

[Setter Man]

Originally Posted by Dave Tercek

I had a nice Ideal grade Long Range years ago. It seemed like an original un-altered gun. The odd thing was that the Right barrel had an improved choke. It was nicely polished with no signs of being reamed. The seller told me some Long Range guns were ordered that way, the first shot being for over decoys the second for passing or going away birds.
Any thoughts ? , Dave

My first D-grade was choked the same way. It had been ordered by the owner of a prominent sporting goods store in NYC and if I remember correctly lettered that way. I was told that gunners would shoot at incoming geese with the full barrel and by the time the incoming geese were able to stop back peddling and flare the IC was all that was needed. Seems there are a number of guns configured like this there must be something to the stories.

[OH Osthaus]

Originally Posted by Rick Roemer

Wow, that old ad mentions consistent kills at 80 yards! Someone needs to try patterning at that distance. Ha

the long range hype was not just for the guns

[OH Osthaus]

Originally Posted by Dave Tercek

I had a nice Ideal grade Long Range years ago. It seemed like an original un-altered gun. The odd thing was that the Right barrel had an improved choke. It was nicely polished with no signs of being reamed. The seller told me some Long Range guns were ordered that way, the first shot being for over decoys the second for passing or going away birds.
Any thoughts ? , Dave

both of my Elsie Long Ranges are very full and full,

but, most makers at that time would fill any reasonable order to get the sale

however, i would rather see a letter than listen to a seller

[Cold Spring]

Originally Posted by Dave Tercek

I had a nice Ideal grade Long Range years ago. It seemed like an original un-altered gun. The odd thing was that the Right barrel had an improved choke. It was nicely polished with no signs of being reamed. The seller told me some Long Range guns were ordered that way, the first shot being for over decoys the second for passing or going away birds.
Any thoughts ? , Dave

Captains Askins and Crossman were out ducking back in the glory days and both recommended a Modified choke in one barrel of these specialty duck guns. On the other hand there were the dedicated duck men like Buck and Olin who went with tightest chokes in both barrels. Also I've read more than a few times now that shooting a period 2-3/4" shell in a 3-inch chambered barrel would reduce the efficiency (% at 40 yards) by about 10% and that's not counting the lesser pellet hits when using a lighter payload. Especially good to know when birds were working the decoys well.

Yep 79 or 80 yards is pushing the envelope quite a bit. It was generally acknowledged by experts that the Super-X 2-3/4" progressive load afforded an effective 5-10 yards increase over the heaviest bulk/dense smokeless powder loads, also that the extra length 3-inch/1-3/8 ounce progressive load would add to that.

[mobirdhunter]

So the "more time to judge your lead" is the time that the duck/goose flew to the 80 yard range limit? Help me understand the "more time" claim. I certainly get more distance, and birds traveling from X to Y distance equals time, but...judging lead?

[Mills]

There was a great article in the Double Gun Journal a few years ago about Long Ranges and that article suggested the 80 yard claim was a bit of a stretch. They are still classic guns

[Tom Flanigan]

Originally Posted by Mills Morrison

There was a great article in the Double Gun Journal a few years ago about Long Ranges and that article suggested the 80 yard claim was a bit of a stretch. They are still classic guns

Eighty yards for a standard twelve was indeed a very long stretch. The gun companies marketing strategy encouraged sky busting. Captain Charles Askins as well as Elmer Keith were long range shooters. But they did a lot of testing with the guns and loads they shot at long range and I don't believe either was a sky buster, even Keith shooting geese at 80 yards with his 3 1/2 inch 10 bore Ithaca. Those guys knew their guns and loads intimately before they hunted with them.

It is interesting that Askins considered #4's a ten bore shot size. He used 6's for ducks from his 12 bores. I agree with 6's as the best duck shot size but I have gotten really good patterns with a couple of my long range 12 bore guns with size #4. Thats all I shoot at geese since 3's are no longer available. Interestingly enough, I got decent patterns with 3's and used them exclusively for long range geese when I could get that size shot. But I have never gotten patterns good enough using 2's. My maximum size shot for a 12 bore is #4's except for #1 buck for deer. My maximum for the 16 is size 6 and maximum for my 20's is 7 1/2 generally. Although I have played with a 20 bore for ducks occassionally with #6 because the gun I use patterns #6's reasonably well.

If a person is interested in long range shooting, then they should spend some time at the patterning board testing different shot sizes and loads. It's the only way to know what each gun is capable of.

[mobirdhunter]

...and the added time to figure lead???

[Mills]

I have made some long shots this season but no where near 80 yards.