From 1894 to 1934...4100 16 ga. hammer guns were made..And..ONE Eagle grade..That's all the info. the LC Club has..

4100 doesn't sound all that rare. I wonder why not more are seen?

I wonder that too Mills, very interesting.

I thought that sounded like a lot too. I went back and checked..4100 is what Drew H. posted ! Way more than Parker 16 hammer guns..

That number cant be correct unless a lot of them are in deep hiding.

While certainly any single record might be in error, the records referred to are a compilation from all of the individual surviving records form the factory. Pretty unlikely that there's any significant disparity between the "REAL" number of 16 ga hammer gun and the number of examples extracted from the records.
I'll say this, they are out there, but they don't come up for sale often. When they do show up for sale, they are often "rode hard and put up wet". I picked up one on the cheap a few years back on one of the auction sites. The stock was covered entirely in what appeared to be a lace-on elephant scrotum, leaving no view of what lay beneath, and the 28" twist steel barrels looked pretty dodgy. When the gun arrived it was with great trepidation that I cut the laces and removed the elephant scrotum. The original stock beneath was without a single defect. I had the barrels refinished by one of our trusted sources, and the wood refinished by another. The gun is beautiful, and it turns out that she's only one of a handful of 28" twist steel 16 ga hammer guns ever produced by LC Smith. She's choked full and tight mod, and a real pleasure to shoot. I've been offered many times what I've got in her, but she's Alyssa's chosen hammer gun, and I suspect it might be a while before I get another shot at one.
I'd guess that Destry's comment that folks just hold on to them is probably the ticket, as it seems that a decent number of the guns were produced.

John..My 16 is a 28" twist barrel gun too. I bought it from a friend who inherited a bunch of guns..and was not a gun guy. The barrels and stock are both 90%..and the gun is at Jerry Andrews now for color. The steel barrel gun was in a pawn shop in Miami. Those are 2 of the 3 that I have ever seen for sale. Mine is in a vintage 2 gun case with my Parker 16 hammer..j...

All very interesting info, I appreciate the responses. Mine is a 28 inch pistol grip with damascus barrels. Well worn but very solid, with some cleaning I think it would be pretty presentable. Has the standard low drop at heel so it wouldn't suit me well for a smallbore duck gun. I might give it a try on squirrels, or I might sell it, or I might just leave it in the safe with all my other guns I never shoot....

Every notice that? You have all these damn guns but you only ever get around to shooting maybe three or four of them.

4100 is a lot in the double gun world. I think John Liles is right though. Folks just hold on to them. I keep meaning to add an LC Smith hammer gun to my collection and one day it will happen.

I got a long range this year, so the biggest goal on the LC Smith column is met

Discussions like this usually are forbearers of bad decisions on my part!!