Category: All About Guns

Every bird hunter relishes the opportunity to buy a new shotgun. For many, the choices focus on the newest makes and models offered by a number of wonderful manufacturers. Others prowl around gun shops, raise bidding flags at auction houses or pick up intel of a potential new acquisition through word of mouth.

In those places this group of shooters find the beloved American Classic they have been looking for. When they acquire a Parker, a Fox, an LC Smith or Lefever, they are connecting with a wing shooting legacy — and what better place is there for such a gunner to go than to surround himself with like-minded shotgunners?

Below are four collectors’ groups focused on shotguns made by companies that represent American’s best. Their websites are filled with interesting history, records and information about each of the legacy companies. Membership has its privileges, and the value provided by these groups is immeasurable. The only question these collectors’ groups can’t answer is how much your latest acquisition will lighten your wallet but they can absolutely give you a range of what it’s worth!

L.C. Smith

Frank Finch of the L.C. Smith Collectors Association (www.lcsmith.org) grew up on a family farm just north of Princeton, NJ. He grew up hunting rabbits with a pack of beagles until his life changed in 1960. It was then that Finch encountered Bill Risavy, a family friend, who was working a grouse cover with his two English setters. One dog pointed on a hillside, the second dog honored the point, and a grouse flushed. Risavy fired and Finch was hooked.

“Mr. Risavy carried an L.C. Smith which I immediately eyeballed as a replacement to my single shot .410,” he said. “I asked him if he could find me one and before long, I was the new owner of a used 12-gauge Field Grade. That Field Grade was in terrible condition, but I knew there was a history to it.

I purchased Col. Brophy’s book The L.C. Smith Shotgun and learned everything I could. As time went on, I bought additional models and was asked to bring some of them to the Syracuse, NY gun show. Other fellows brought theirs, too, and we took a straw poll to see if anyone was interested in forming a club. Twenty-eight people responded positively to a questionnaire and that was enough to get under way. We began with 15 charter members in March 2003 and today have over 650 national and international members. It’s a wonderful fraternity.”

Parker

Bill Mullins of the Parker Gun Collectors Association (www.parkerguns.org) says the PGCA was founded in 1993. “I guess I came by my Parker fascination honestly,” he said from his Knoxville, Tenn. home. “Parker shotguns were a family tradition as both my grandfather and my father shot them on our farm outside of Knoxville.

Thanksgiving was traditionally the opener of the bobwhite quail season, and before sitting down to a turkey dinner we’d roam through the fields with our pointers and setters.

As a young boy my job was to carry the birds and to clean the shotguns after the hunt. I loved the two shots and the instant choke selection, I was impressed by the gorgeous case colors and the engraving. Before long I began my own collection. My idea as a charter member of the PGCA was a simple one.

Whenever I thought of rifles, I thought of Winchester. Whenever I thought of pistols, I thought of Colt. I helped the PGCA as a charter member see that whenever hunters thought of shotguns they’d think Parker. Our association is a treasure trove of information, history, and resources, and everyone is curious and willing to share.”

Steve Cambria of the A.H. Fox Collectors Association (www.foxcollectors.com) grew up in Connecticut, a chip shot away from where Parker Shotguns were manufactured. “How does a guy who grew up in Parker country wind up with a Fox?” he laughed. “It’s easy. As a teen I met a die-hard grouse hunter who shot a 20-ga. Fox Sterlingworth.

He unselfishly handed me that sweet little 20 bore and we spent countless hours on a local skeet range where I practiced shooting randomly thrown targets from a low-gun position. The exercise had a dual effect. It taught me the fundamentals of a good gun mount and threw me head over heels in love with Fox guns. A few years later, I had saved enough to purchase a well-worn, A-grade and the rest as they say, is history.”

“Members of the Fox Collector’s Association are a mix of hard-core collectors and active users. The former group is primarily focused on attaining high-condition, factory original pieces while the latter enjoys shooting their Fox guns hunting game or crushing clays. Their time afield or at the range is enriched by owning a marquee American shotgun.

But for all, there is the ‘thrill of the hunt,’ seeking out that next, great Fox! Our members love to learn not just about who previously owned their Fox, but also about the context in which their firearm was built. Every $30 annual membership fee gets one free production card lookup (a $25 value) where members can trace their gun’s original factory specs.

It also allows them entrance into the ‘Members Only’ forum where they can converse with some of the preeminent Fox collectors from around the world. The wealth of knowledge cached on our site is unparalleled and would take the average Fox owner decades to acquire on his/her own.”

Lefever

Dr. Robert Decker, the steward of the Lefever Arms Collectors Association, (www.lefevercollectors.com) had a different reason for managing the LACA. “I am Daniel Lefever’s great-great grandson,” he said from his home in Hawaii.

“I guess there wasn’t any way around being involved with the LACA. I was born in Ilion, NY (which is where his ancestors lived when they worked at Remington). I lived in Canandaigua which is where Daniel was born and started in the gun business. And I went to school in Ithaca which is where Lefevers were made for a while after the company was acquired by the Ithaca Gun Company in 1916.”

“My main objective was to gather the company history, some of which was located in various relatives’ homes, and to showcase the innovation and the quality that had been associated with the Lefever brand. The group was started by Phil Kroll and Chris Schotz in 1993, and I joined in 2000. Their first order of business was to create and mail a newsletter. I took over in 2009. Hunting is a little bit of a challenge here in Hawaii, so I’ll plan to give a few of my Lefevers a good workout in Montana.”