Interesting to hear that the gun in question is a Special Order Lefever. I'd love to see some pics when you get it back. There was a thread on Lefevers about 6 weeks ago where the discussion went to frame sizes of 12 gauge guns. I took some measurements of several Lefevers to see where the weight reduction was in those with lighter weights. See my last post in this thread to compare with the dimensions of your frame:
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...true#Post478357It could well be that your gun was either mid-weight or on the heavy side before it was sleeved. I see a range of over 2 lbs. in 12 gauge Lefevers I've owned. Unfortunately, as you probably know, it became fashionable for people to cut down barrels of long heavy doubles in a vain attempt to remake them into upland bird guns. The results are usually not so great, and the value of a vintage double is greatly reduced in the process of attempting to convert a heavy duck gun into a light upland game gun.
To get to where you want to go could involve a costly process of removing weight from the barrels, stock, and frame to achieve weight reduction and great handling dynamics. Of course, removing metal from the frame to approach the dimensions of those rare light weight 12 ga. Lefevers would involve removing some of that lovely engraving. So in the end, it may be best to utilize this gun for clay target shooting where the bit of extra weight would be welcome in recoil reduction. As an aside, you may be able to detect whether the original barrels were Damascus or fluid steel by closely examining the barrel flats of the original breech section, assuming the original set was used for the sleeving job.
