S & W SHOTGUNS

I had a field model in the 1980's (12 ga. 28 inch)..purchased new when there were retail chains such as Rink's, Heart's, and Heck's (any old timers recall these?) that was similar to today's Remington's "Express" line; no frills, plain wood, but sturdy pump guns.
 
I have a friend (who is well known to S&WCA members) who has at least one of EVERY S&W long gun except two , whether rifle or shotgun, ever produced including a D.B.Wesson made percussion muzzle loading target rifle, ( and a few that were never produced!) in every barrel length, gauge, choke or caliber offered. S&WCA members may remember his display at our annual meeting about 3 yrs. ago. It covered eleven tables and that was only a portion of the collection, as no more would fit in his Rolls Royce. The S&W factory rep at the meeting said she had never seen many of these and did not know S&W had ever made some of them. There's well over 100 guns in the collection, however he is lacking a couple specimens. They are a Model 125 and the S&W WW2 .30 cal carbine. If you have either one of these and want to get rich, contact me. Ed.
 
I have a pair of S&W 3000's. One is blued with the folding stock, 18.5in bbl. with a front bead. The other is parkerized, also with a folding stock, 20in. bbl, rifle sights, and +2 extension.

The 18.5" model is my favorite; it's handy, light, responsive, and has a snap-on Hi-Viz red fiber-optic front sight. I love the folding stock (made by Choate; they also made the extended mag tube on my parkerized 3000), because it has a nice rubber shoulder pad. My parkerized 3000, by comparison, is heavier by virtue of the longer barrel and +2 extension.

These guns were the equals of the Remington 870's of the period, with the added benefit of Choate accessories pre-installed. The did have a significant flaw, though. If you remove the barrel and pull the forend forward too aggressively, you will bend (and destroy) one of the shell stops. RTFM, and avoid doing mishandling the gun, and it will last like an 870. Spare parts are scarce, though a company in Texas (Lone Star) still supports the guns with the remnants of S&W's parts inventory.
 
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