doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Lefever Restoration

Looking for recommendations for someone to restore the metal surfaces of my 1906 Lefever Arms G Grade 10-bore waterfowler. The wood is fine and I had the damascus barrels restored by Keith Kearcher a few years ago. But the other metal parts are either polished and now "in the white" or they've been hot-blued, which is how things stood when I acquired the gun. Does everything need to be case-colored, and who should I get to do it? How much of the gun will I send him? What am I likely to spend? I want to do this right, of course, but don't feel compelled to set any new records. As always, your advice is appreciated. TT

Typically the forend furniture, frame and trigger guard on Lefevers (Other than DS & I grades) were color case hardened.

If you want the absolute best Lefever smith to do the work call Buck Hamlin in Pevely, MO. I have been amazed at the quality of his work.

His contact information is:
Buck Hamlin
8501 Cedar Trail
Pevely, MO 63070
Phone # (636) 479-4304

From past experience he will want you to send him the entire gun to make sure that everything properly aligns after the frame is case hardened just in case there is any warpage.

Buck is definitely the best, most knowledgeable person to restore your Lefever.

For Case coloring, also look into Clarks Gunsmithing and Restorations in the Hartford, CT area. They do good work and are reasonably priced.

Another +++ vote for Buck Hamlin. I have two Lefevers that he restored. He is among the best at restoring classic SxS's.

However, be aware that he always has a big backlog, and expect to wait many months.

gold40

Jerry that is quite true if you are talking about a single gun complete restoration but Buck likes to do work in batches to take advantage of economy of scale so if you get lucky and send him a gun that just needs color case hardening or barrels that need bluing and he is about case to do a batch of other guns or blue a bunch of other barrels his turn around can be quite quick. He also moves repairs through the shop in a hurry just to keep his safes from filling up.

All: Thanks for this advice. TT