Ok gentleman, I need some assistance. I have an E grade Lefever 16ga that I'm going to sell and have no idea how to price it. Can't find anything comparable anywhere. It has extractors, uncut wood with a reproduction buttplate. Engraving is sharp. 28" krupp Barrels that are Full/Mod. 6lbs 4oz. It has been completely restored by Bachelder. S/N 53211, 1905 production?
I'll try to get pics up. Haven't done that in a while.
TIA!!!
Bill
We can't wait to see that one.
Just two to sweeten the thread
Mike
I would be interested in the gun.Texas res.
Overall a nice E grade 16. 6 lb 4oz is a nice weight & has my "Personal" favorite length of barrels @ 28". I note it does have the XX frame. Not a lot of difference but my one XX frame is just a bit slimmer than the non XX frames. I do not recall at about what SN it came into being, but I note this one does not have the 1907 patent date, so presumably would be earlier than that.
All of the Lefevers presumably had Imported walnut on them. Perhaps not quite as fancy as one would hope for on an E grade, but undoubtedly of very high quality. Wish I still had the ability to use it & was able to buy it, unfortunately, those days are gone for me.
You've probably seen the Lefever G Grade 12 gauge restored by Bachelder that has been listed on Gunbroker for quite a while. It now has a very optimistic starting bid price of $4000.00. I think it started out at an even more optimistic $6000.00. It is a cased two barrel set, but the second set of barrels is cut to 24", and honed out. This is another one that will be listed forever unless the seller decides to face the reality that it is vastly overpriced. I think you'd be very hard pressed to get that much for a restored 16 gauge E, and the Lefever 16 gauge production numbers are much lower than 12 gauge.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/787959564I can't help wondering why Bachelders did not remove the number 34 stamped into the wood behind the grip cap during the restoration of your 16 gauge E Grade? It would seem that a bit of steaming along with minimal sanding could have eliminated that blemish completely. There must be a story behind that.
That 34 stamp is very odd. Who did it, and for what purpose, I cannot fathom. Seems like the sort of thing an Ordnance gun would have, but Lefever pre-dates that.
Although I wouldnt be surprised if some Ithaca Nitro's found there way to being Ordnance guns in the WW2 time frame.
Bachelder's work is nice, not my favorite, given the examples Ive seen. All the same, E grades, while not "rare" in their totality, are less common in later years when they had advanced to mid grade than they were in the early years when they were the lowest grade.
I will echo the positive sentiment of 28" barrels for a 16. And the dimensions are excellent.
Makes for an excellent club gun!
NDG
A Lefever wouldn't be the first gun with a number stamped behind the pistol grip. I have a WC Scott Victoria grade hammer gun from 1887 and it has a number behind the Prince of Wales grip that is not the serial number.