Mr. Owens: I've done a little digging here this AM and your gun seems to be a very early example of the Syracuse line (likely 1886 production). I knew that total Syracuse production numbers were quite limited but I'm seeing speculation elsewhere that only something like 750 hammerless guns were made before the sale to the Hunters in 1888(?). Compare that to the nearly half a million guns that came out of Fulton and you'll understand why these Syracuse guns are so seldom seen.

For a sense of scale, 601 examples of my Quality 2 1890 gun were made (in that configuration, per Mr. Stubbendieck's letter above) and they were only just getting started.

Thank you Lloyd for the information. After reading your last post I did some research of my own reading the Houchins' book "The Legend Lives". It does appear that my gun was probably produced in 1886 and no later than 1888. Thank you for interest and sharing your knowledge in these early LC Smith guns.

Wayne, you're most welcome. Thank you for sharing your gun pictures as well, it's really quite impressive. From my reading earlier, these guns used blocks of numbers and the 16,xxx serial number range were some of the earliest hammerless guns.

A good representation of how LC Smith actions evolved from the original design. The hammergun is from 1901 but is representative of all the later flat-bottomed guns going forward.

http://i.imgur.com/09NpvaJh.png

When the Hunter brothers were done with it, you almost wouldn't recognise Alexander T. Brown's original design.

http://i.imgur.com/2J2EAxfh.png

But in 1890 they still mostly resembled the original configuration.