I can only hope someone shoots it at the occasional bird or clay pigeon and enjoys it. I assume John's family still has the gun, which they should. I must ask, is that the likeness of your Great Grandfather hunting behind the setters on the locks? I bet he also shot at live pigeons, based on the set-up of the gun and the beautiful and unique gold inlay on the rib extension. I'm looking at the A4 right now, that is exactly the type of gun I dream of finding in the back of the closet! What a work of art.
I will also keep an eye out for the pre-13 sliver breech 12 gauge, I'm always looking so you never know. I Grouse hunt with these guns every year.Īgreed!!! If there is anything I can ever do in connection with the Monogram, please let me know. Smith Silver Breech 16 gauge double gun in the picture, under the Pre 13, Special order 00 with #1 gun engraving. Smith guns with me, it is always a pleasure. See the gun in his book, the Legend Lives, on page 358 and 359. The Special made A4 gun gifted to my Great Grandfather by John Hunter Sr now belongs to John Houchins & family, I mailed him the origination documents about 6 months before he passed away. Smith double gun, please let me know, it belongs to the set of 4, my Great Grandfather had Special made for my Grandfathers 13th birthday, I would love to have that gun back, in our gun safe with the other matching guns. If you ever see a pre 13, 12 gauge Silver Breech L.C. I know I will probably never recover all the stolen guns, I am glad I have been able to recover the few that I have. Having the original sales documents with the SN's really helps, when these guns surface for sale on the internet. The internet has been a great tool for helping to recover the stolen guns, and I keep looking all the time. The Monogram gun is marked in a certain manner where the thieves would never think to look, I am hoping I can recover it before I cash in my chips. Smith double guns, still have more than a few missing however, and a couple nice high grade LeFevers also. With the help of the internet and some fiends we have recovered 4 of my Great Grandfathers stolen L.C. We definitely think a lot alike, no doubt about that.
Without further ado, here she is (32" barrels with the Hunter One Trigger "HOT"): Of note, the subject Monogram has "Monogram Steel" barrels and it is believed that this barrel steel was only used between 19 (I can only imagine due to WWI supply issues). The rest of the gun was covered with scroll, leaf and floral designs, with a wedge of engraving on the breech and muzzles.ĭamascus and Sir Joseph Whitworth barrels were available on the Monogram (Damascus more so on the earlier guns and then through the teens). As the Monogram was a custom ordered gun, few are exactly alike, but that is a general guideline. The early Monograms were engraved with hunting dogs on the lock plates until about 1905, after that the lock plates were engraved with two birds in flight.
In both the pre-1913 and post-1913 lineup, the Monogram was the third highest grade offered, with only the A-3 and A-2 higher in the pre-1913 era and the De Luxe and Premier higher in the post-1913 era. The Monogram Grade was the only pre-1913 grade that remained unchanged when Hunter Arms introduced their "new designs" in 1913 (and the grade numbering system was changed to named grades). The subject Monogram of this post was finished in 1919, after the Hunter brothers had declared bankruptcy and a local group of Fulton, NY businessmen had purchased Hunter Arms to help protect the local economy. Smith Monogram Grade was made from 1892 until 1945 with only 306 total guns produced over the entire 54 year production run.