Smith Shot Gun ?

[rodbilyeu]

My dad just showed me his new Smith Shot gun 12g pump the man who sold it to him said it was made for the military it has a short barrel and holds 8 shells it is a good looking gun I had no ideal Smith made shot guns any one know anything about it
thought it funy no SW insigna on gun

 

[murphydog]

Sounds to be a model 916. S & W has marketed/produced pump, semi-auto and side-by-side shotguns over the years, the last type most recently (as in this century).

 

[opoefc]

rodbilyeu, Tell us the serial number and we can tell you a lot more about the gun, however it sounds to me from what you have posted that the gun is probably a police riot gun configuration of one of the various S&W pump shotgun models. It must have some kind of mark or stamping on it to make you believe it was made by Smith & Wesson, right? If so, what was it? Absence of the S&W logo, or it's presence, is often a matter of happenstance and not a clue as to the gun's maker. Riot type S&W shotguns, made under a military contract, are something collectors have been trying to authenticate for years. I've seen two fakes that sold at very high prices, at a Rock Island auction, to unsuspecting buyers. Factory shipping records do not record any military shotgun orders, however it may be that these records were sealed by the military, for whatever reason, and not included in the shipping logs. We need much more info about your gun to pin down it's origin. Ed.

 

[shawn mccarver]

S&W did not, to my knowledge, make pump - or any other type - of shotgun for the military. Ed is correct in that there seem to be rumors such that people are willing to make up some fakes, but certainly military shipments have not been as yet confirmed. I cannot imagine an item such as a pump action shotgun being considered such a secret that records would be sealed on either end of the transaction, if there were, in fact, a transaction. Certainly Mossberg and Remington have not labored under any such seal of records, and both companies advertise the fact that their shotguns have been adopted by the military or that they meet a certain Mil-Spec.

 

[opoefc]

I examined, in detail, both of the fake S&W military 12 ga. shotguns in the RI Auction. The markings were masterpieces of fakery, probably done with the original Rock Island Arsenal stamps from WW2. US Property stamps, the flaming bomb stamp, and the crossed cannons of the Ordnance Dep't. etc. The auction description called them "S&W WW2 trench guns" They were Model 916 Police issues, made in the 80s, with fake S&W three digit serial numbers. The auction house said they relied on the sellers description as to what they were, and wouldn't change the catalog. They each sold in the high 4 figure range. One of them to a client of mine, whom I had told about the fakes, and he wanted one for his S&W long gun collection to educate viewers of his collection about fakes. We displayed it at a S&WCA annual meeting a couple years ago, without any description. No one spotted it as a fake! Ed.

 

[rodbilyeu]

Thanks for the reply guys interesting. the gun is stamped eastfield model
916a Manufactured by Smith and wesson sp Ma but like I said no logo
s#4b1828 looking like the guy who sold it to him may have fibbed about it being a military gun

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

The 916 is the old rebranded NOBLE pumpgun. Smith bought NOBLE out and continue on mfg. it for awhile............Domestic or foreign Smith hasn't had much luck in the shotgun field.

 

[opoefc]

One of the variations of the S&W Eastfield model was a Police Riot version with the short barrel and high capacity magazine. It was never purchased by the US for military uses. The seller may have embellished the gun's heritage somewhat.
Ed.

 

[rodbilyeu]

Thank you all for the information very interesting learned a thing or two
Off to tell the old man the good and bad of it .

 

[markieh]

The old 916 was a horrible beast. Back in the 80s I used to work for the UK importer and around 50% of the guns that went out would come back in very short order with broken parts.

They followed up with the model 1000 (Auto) and the model 1000P (you guessed it ....pump) which were much better. Although they wore the S&W logo they were actually made by a company in Japan (Howa) and if memory serves..... it was a long time ago they were the same as the Weatherby Centurion. Don't take the last part as gospel I'm about 60/40 on the Weatherbyy connection.

As a follow up I looked the model 1000s up on the net and apparently they were very close copies of the Remington mod 1100 and 870.

It also appears that the 1000P may have been sold as the 3000 but when they first appeared in the UK they were definately the model 1000P.