Marks_21, I know about the evolution that led to more extensive engraving in the later guns, but the FE I mentioned earlier is a 1902 vintage, going by the serial number. It has quite a bit more engraving coverage than the one you provided a picture of, and it has Krupp Essen fluid steel barrels. The game scene engraving includes a setter and a pointer in circles on the sideplates, and a flying grouse on the trigger guard. It has gold plated triggers, and it has the sear adjusting screws on the sideplates. It also has the sculpted frame bottom, and the wood has the best marble cake figure I have seen on any F Grade. It would not be out of place on a C or even a B grade. If I was unscrupulous, it would be very easy to turn the F into an E, and no one who knew Lefevers would bat an eye.
This was my very first Syracuse Lefever. I met a guy in the parking lot of a local gun show who had two doubles and a Model 12 Winchester to sell. I bought the L.C. Smith 20 Gauge Ideal Grade with auto ejectors, and left the Lefever behind. He had given me his business card, so I called him a couple days later, and he still had the Lefever. He knew nothing about the guns as they had belonged to his late father-in-law. I honestly thought the gun was a 16 gauge. But as it turned out, I was very fortunate to luck into one of the scarce small frame 12 gauge Lefevers. It weighs a bit under 6 lb. 4 oz. Had I bought one of the typical 7 to 8 pounders, I might not have been so smitten, but that one started a 25 year love affair with Lefevers. In all that time, I have only bought one other 12 gauge Lefever gun that has the small frame, and surprisingly, it is an I Grade that weighs about 6 lb. 5 oz. These small frame 12 gauge guns do not have the XX stamp on the water table as seen on the 16 and 20 gauge guns.
