Who distributed shotguns produced by the Hunter Arms Co.?

Most Smith guns were not special ordered from the Hunter Arms factory, but purchased from the stock of a local hardware or sporting goods store. Major suppliers such as E.K. Tryon in Philadelphia, Wm. Read & Sons in Boston, and Hibbard, Spencer and Bartlett in Chicago sold thousands of L.C. Smith, Parker, and Fox guns, along with their own ‘tradename’ guns usually supplied by H.& D. Folsom Arms/Crescent Fire Arms. A single order from E.K. Tryon in the Parker Bros. order books is 12 pages of legal-sized sheets.

Documented Hunter Arms Company distributors include:

• Orgill Brothers & Co., Memphis, TN
• Townley Metal & Hardware Co., Kansas City, MO
• Belknap Hardware Company, Louisville, KY
• The Sporting Goods Agencies, Montreal, Canada
• Schoverling, Daly & Gales, New York, NY
• Hartley & Graham, New York, NY
• Schuyler, Hartley & Graham, New York, NY
• Storrs & Candee Sporting Goods, Hartford , CT
• McDonald & Linforth, San Francisco, CA
• Clabrough, Golcher & Co., San Francisco, CA
• Harder Sporting Goods Co., Williamsport, PA
• Wm. Read & Sons, Boston, MA
• John P. Lovell Arms Co., Boston, MA
• Hurty-Simmons Hardware Co., Minneapolis, MN
• J. H. Johnson, Great Western Gun Works, Pittsburg, PA
• Von Lengerke & Antoine, Chicago, IL
• A. J. Rummel Arms Co., Toledo, OH
• W. S. Brown, Pittsburg, PA
• John Pritzlaff Hardware Co., Milwaukee, WI
• Powell & Clement, Cincinnati, OH
• Boehme & Rauch Co., Monroe, MI
• Edward K. Tryon Co., Philadelphia, PA
• Bolles-Brendamour Co., Cincinnati, OH
• McCumber-Smith Co., (unknown)
• Hibbard, Spencer and Bartlett, Chicago, IL
• E. C. Meacham Arms Co., St. Louis, MO
• John P. Lovell Arms Co., Boston, MA
• Paxton & Gallagher Co., Omaha, NE
• Townsend Gun Co., Omaha, NE
• Lull & Hartford, Lowell, MA
• Spalding-Haywood Arms Co., Denver, CO
• Janney, Semple, Hill & Co. Minneapolis, MN
• Wm. Frankfurth Hardware Co. Milwaukee, WI
• W. Fred Quimby Co. at 294 Broadway, New York City advertized (1894) as the "New York Agents for the L C Smith Hammerless Shot Gun and General Agents for Empire Target Co."
• W. H. Thorne & Co., New Brunswick, Canada
  

In 1920, the Hunter Arms Company. listed the following international agents:

• H.W. Hancock & Company, Manila, Philippines
• C. Alken, Inc., Manila, Philippines
• Spencer & Waters, Santiago, Chile
• Martin Kohn, Havana, Cuba

Examine your barrels carefully and you might find a "SD&G" for Schoverling, Daly & Gales, a "WR" for Wm. Read & Sons, or a "BH", possibly for Belknap Hardware. Please contact  Dr. Drew if you find any other stamps.