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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 184
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 184 |
Hello, I have not been active here for a couple of years. I'm back shooting and accumulating SXSs! Just dug this out of a safe for a round of sporting clays and really enjoyed it. But I don't know much about Lefever guns. This pretty little this is in wonderful shape, and fits me well. It's a 30" 12 gauge. My primary question is that while it is clearly marked "G" it is engraved significantly more extensively than any other "G grade" I have ever owned or encountered. I look forward to your comments. Thanks! Mark
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 624
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 624 |
Welcome back, Mark!
Lefever Arms Co's engraving patterns became more complex over time and as lower grades were introduced. They were never standardized as were the patterns of other American makers' guns.
Your G's engraving is more like earlier F; I had a late F that looked like an E. All just part of the romance of Lefevers!
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 184
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 184 |
It's good to be back Terry.
Thanks for the prompt reply!
M
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 12,743
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 12,743 |
I agree with Terry, the engraving looks "F". I note from the pics the side plates are the earlier style with attached sears & also a bearing for the hammer axle (hole just under the C in Co). This would indicate to me a gun no later than the mid 20K serial number range & likely a "Two Hook" cocker. At this point the G grade carried only a simple line around the edge of the plate & a bit of "Sunburst" on screw heads etc. I have a G in the 29K SN range & it has already gone to the large single hook, frame mounted sears, no axle bearing in the plates & lost the cross pin through the frame where it steps down to the rounded contour. It still has only the line engraving. Around the 40K/50K SN range a scroll pattern was added to the G's side plates, I have never seen another G with ant animal scenes in the engraving. Is the G marked on barrels only, frame only or both. I am wondering if this gun started life as & F & has subsequently been re-fit with a set of G grade barrels.
Miller/TN I Didn't Say Everything I Said, Yogi Berra
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Joined: May 2015
Posts: 355 Likes: 10
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 355 Likes: 10 |
Mark Dube,
You said it's clearly marked "G"...where is it marked? There are plenty of examples of guns which are marked with one grade on the water table, and another on the barrels (if the barrels are even grade stamped).
Did you read that "G" on the water table?
As Terry B said, your gun definitely looks more like an "F".
-- Nudge
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,486 Likes: 393
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,486 Likes: 393 |
Mark, glad to hear you are back and in an "acquiring" state of mind. I always look forward to seeing your cast-offs! LOL
Actually going to be up near you next weekend, looking at an inherited cache. Might be some goodies....it is an "old money" family. I'll let you know if anything comes of it.
The world cries out for such: he is needed & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 12,743
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 12,743 |
I just looked at my G sn 20,632 & it is marked G on the frame but not on the barrels. Also I failed to mention but this gun as well as the one in question here both have the adjustable sear engagement. My large hook G in the 29K range has it as well. At some point this seems to have been dropped on all grades below an E. My F in the 38K range does not have it. A pivot lever, rod cocker E in the 10K range & the 29K range G are both adjustable from outside the plate. On the gun pictured here as well as my 20KG the side plates have to be removed & the screw turned from the inside. This is the screw near the bottom rear of the plates.
Miller/TN I Didn't Say Everything I Said, Yogi Berra
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 184
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 184 |
Wow! Thanks guys, lots of info! Sorry to have started out with only 1/2 of the required information. The gun is marked as to grade on receiver only, all parts serialized and matching.
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 12,743
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 12,743 |
Plainly marked G on frame bar. This was normal for this era to mark the grade only on the frame. It has been said that Lefevers with the grade marked on both frame & barrels are all Ithaca assembled guns, though I have some serious doubts on this. There seem to be to many out there marked this way for them all to be Ithaca. It may well be that this gun was just mis-stamped for grade, it sure looks like an F in all details.
Miller/TN I Didn't Say Everything I Said, Yogi Berra
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 11,343 Likes: 390
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 11,343 Likes: 390 |
I agree with Miller's idea that this gun may have been mis-stamped for grade. I have a couple F Grade Lefevers very near this serial number range that have almost identical engraving on the left sideplate and action. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an egret in flight on the right sideplate since that was a common theme on F Grades in this era. I have also never seen any other G Grades with birds or game scene engraving, and the amount of scroll is much more extensive than even later G Grade guns. The figure of the wood however, seems very appropriate for a G Grade.
A true sign of mental illness is any gun owner who would vote for an Anti-Gunner like Joe Biden.
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