doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Lefever Pawn Shop Project Gun

I recently picked up a mid 1880's Lefever 12 gauge side by side at an area pawn shop. I would like to restore the gun as much as possible and shot on occasion with low pressure shot shells. These are the things I know:

Stock, nice wood and grain, checkering worn but nice, several hairline cracks in pistol grip and missing butt plate.

Receiver is in excellent condition, nice limited engraving (Grade E) but it has been blued. I don't know when or why.

Barrel appears to have been shortened to 26 inches. The barrel is Damascus steel, it has been blued, some slight rust on the barrel.

Forearm is missing the front metal part...don't know what it is called.

All numbers match, I hope to reasonably get the gun as close to original as is safely possible. Any recommendations on where to start? My thoughts are to remove the bluing from the receiver and the barrel to start with? Suggestions and advice appreciated.

Thanks!

From one Snyder to another---cut your loses now. You have a wall hanger--any money you put into it is money down the black hole. Cut barrels kills it. JMHO.

Thanks Walter! I should probably clean it up. I don't have any illusions of a high value gun, just want to clean it up. Would you drop the barrel and receiver in a vinegar bath to remove the blue?

You've gotten good advice that it's never going to be a collector's item with the cut barrels. However, it would not be a bad first project if you have the time and interst. At a minimum you could use oil and fine steel wool to de-rust the barrels. If you get ambitious try bringing back the damascus pattern per instructions on this site. De-oil the wood, epoxy the cracks, the list goes on and could keep you out of trouble for quite a spell:).

Thanks Judge!

Have fun. Get the gun checked out if you decide to shoot it.

Fgsnyder,
Don't know anything about your background or experience with double guns, but you need to be careful here. The gun you describe does not sound like a good candidate for "restoration".

First of all, you yourself are not going to be capable of improving the gun because you aren't set up to do the necessary repairs and refinishing to the wood and metal. Any amateur attempt at a project such as this results in something that looks worse, not better. And you certainly do not want to send it to a real professional for the work due to the prohibitive cost vs the gun's value.

Take an aspirin and let this pass.
JR

Didn't mean to scare everybody...
JR

The silence was just the solemn group headshake in agreement...

"Projects" are over-rated.


Best,
Ted

Amen!