doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Lefever bolt - tighten

With a Lefever whose lever is left of center, and feels a tad bit loose, what's the method of tightening? I would not venture to mess with the doll's head extension, upsetting metal like tightening the bite on an English gun. Would a new bolt be required?

Thank you.

If it is not a Nitro Special there is a slotted ball, in the front of the action instead a hinge pin. back the ball out enough to take up any wiggle.

Thanks. It's a G grade, and an older one that requires a spanner for the knuckle adjustment. Thankfully that's not the issue, since those things don't care to move sometimes, especially with the spanner head. The top lever, bolt, doll's head interface is what needs firming up.

Some of those joint balls are very hard to get to move. And if the gun is not off face, then it likely will not do anything.

Not off the face. Top lever to the left, and it's movement and action doesn't feel crisp.

I was under the impression that backing the threaded ball out would loosen the action. Screwing it in would tighten the barrel on the face but I have no idea what it would do to the lever position.

If the gun is off face, it will tighten the lever since the bearing surface will move back. But if it is hard against the breech face now, then there is nowhere to move.

Earlier Lefevers had seceral points for adjustment and compensating. And on those guns, there was an adjustment for the bolting. But over the years the amount of adjustment points got fewer and fewer. The bokting adjustment was pretty much done away with after the pivot lever was phased out.

This is an early G, where the sears and seat springs are on the side plates. It also has firing pin bushings and the screws to adjust the hammer spring tension. Not seeing an adjustment method for the bolt.

The compensating screw in the action knuckle is meant to put the gun back on face... period. Many people try to move this screw for the wrong reasons, and many people bugger it up in the process.

If the top lever has moved left of center, it is not really a problem unless the bolting is loose. A Syracuse Lefever is only bolted by a single top bolt which engages the rib extension. It is wear in the bolt or the notch in the rib extension (or both) which allows the top lever to gradually move left of center. If it becomes necessary to tighten the bolting or desirable to bring the top lever back right of center, the best way is to make a new bolt that is a few thousandths thicker than the original. The bolt has a slight taper, and it needs to be fitted, polished, and hardened, but it isn't a very difficult or complicated job. Occasionally you will see a gun that some jackass attempted to tighten by hammering on the rib extension in an attempt to slightly close the notch. This is crude blacksmithing, not gunsmithing.

The earlier Lefever guns had a screw on top of the action to tighten up the bolting, but this compensating feature was eliminated as the design evolved. If you look at the pivot lever E grade currently listed in Gunbroker item # 781458036, you can see this compensating screw in photo # 9 between the doll's head rib extension and the pivot lever.

I read this one. keith knows what he is talking about...Geo