That is awesome! I hope you are able to come to the annual meeting and bring that gun. Our theme is waterfowl guns and that would be a great addition to the display

Yesterday, the gun was inspected by one of the best gunsmiths in the country.
Les Pitman headed up Pachmeyer Custom in the day as well as is the Perazzi warranty gunsmith here in the United States
since Luccio's exit.

I got the call at about 3pm,
"We're sending it back to the seller".
You can hear my heart sink.
"I've never seen a 20 gauge with the barrels honed out to such an extent
that the bore diameter now measures .664 both barrels".

Ha Ha, funny boy.

Chokes in both barrels at .029
Minimum barrel wall thickness of .032
Perfect bores with 2 7/8" chambers
Ejector issue will only require a good cleaning.
Extremely low mileage.

To quote Les, "This gun is a Screamer".

https://i.imgur.com/G0nA4s1.jpg?1

Mount the gun, look down the barrels, see a horizon
 

.
.
https://i.imgur.com/TfYmoGk.jpg?1

Fascinating stuff. When I was a kid I spent some time roaming around that country. We had a couple of places to hunt doves in that area and for a few years my dad belonged to a duck club just a bit south of there. Frankly, I am surprised that hunting is even allowed in California today.
C.G.B.

I have a California 20 gauge 32 inch LC Smith field grade ejector but know nothing about it's history. Bobby

The L.C. Smith Collectors Association does research letters and I would give them a try.

There was a fella I corresponded with from Concord, CA several years ago about the ammunition these guns fired. His name was Tom Weynand, he had a lot of information about the small ammo companies that made the early 3 inch 16 and 20 gauge shells available. If you'll message me privately I'll give you the last address I had for him. No idea if he's still there as that was probably 10 years ago. One of the Smith boys had a 3 inch 16 gauge, I put he and Tom together so he could get a couple original shells for it.

Destry,
I'm the one you hooked up with Tom, and I still have those shells. However, the shells are factory and not custom shells. One is a Peters and the other an Ajax--- both unfired.

My old 3" VH 20, #153,333, was tested at PB for 3 drams, 1 ounce loads. Yes, it's hot in a 16, but real hot in a 20. I no longer have the gun, but I have the order.

There were a couple companies out in California that were loading for them special. Seems like one was called Selby? If Tom is still kicking he's a wonder for information on this kinda thing. I've got some shells too, I'll have to try and find them to see what I've got.