To our Parker brethren from the thankful Hunter Bros. Hunter Arms and the other U.S. gunmakers were just starting to recover from the "Panic of 1893" in 1896.
Nov. 14, 1896
Sporting Life
The Hunter Arms Company, of Fulton, N. Y., perhaps enjoyed the best trade of any American gun makers during the past two or three years. The gun which they make — the "L.C. Smith" — is the most popular of any gun made in America, and having the right men back of it, held it to the front, and despite the hard times have run their factory with a full force of men, and on full time. This, we believe, is more than any other company can say, and it speaks volumes in favor of the L.C. Smith gun.
The trade in high-priced foreign guns has suffered considerable in the last two or three years, as the class of men who formerly bought imported guns and paid a big price for them, found that an American gun costing one-half the money gave just as much service and shot just as hard and close as the imported weapon. The foreign gun showed a fine finish of parts, balanced nicely and shot well, but the cost was always a bar to the average sportsman purchasing one, as few men who are obliged to work for a living feel like putting $300 or more into a gun with the present condition of times.
