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Today I purchased a sxs serial number 49134 32in barrels, no safety sidelock seems to be in excellent shape was told it was a live pigeon gun, any info on this gunwould be appreciated, yr. mfg. etc. The receiver along with the serial number was the letter G. I do not know how to post pictures but could email pictures from my phone if anyone would like to see the gun.

The serial number table puts your gun about 1903-1904, although dating Lefevers is not a slam dunk, since there are no surviving factory records and they were not always produced in serial number sequence - in higher grades sometimes four years or more out of sequence. Trap shooting had gotten extremely popular across the country by 1903-4. I had a trap gun with no safety, 30" barrels, F grade Lefever, from the same serial number range as yours. Mine was inscribed as a prize in a Kansas all-state trap competition. Of course, it could have been used for live bird shooting too. A safety is superfluous in the pigeon ring too. What are the chokes and stock dimensions? You might expect high dimensions for either trap or live bird shooting.

Many years ago I saw an E grade Lefever with straight stock which had no safety. It did not appear the tang had ever been cut with the slot for one. Unfortunately the stock had been heavily sanded, off the gun, for re-finishing. All mating surfaces had ben rounded over. Upon putting back together big gaps would have been present but these had been filled with something resembling plastic wood which was not even a very good color match. I have no idea now what SN range it was, but was of the large cocking hook variety. Barrels were I think 30", do not recall them being 32's.

There are a number of Lefevers out there with no safety. I am not really sure why they did that since the safety on most Lefevers can be turned off with the twist of a screw.

I have taken the measurements and hope this will help, Barrell is 32in, choke is left full and right extra full (seems odd but my choke tube device says this), drop at comb is 1 3/8 heel 2 1/8, the length of pull from front trigger is 14 1/8. English or straight stock. I can send pictures if you can post them, (I don't know how to post pictures) serial number is 49134 and has G on receiver flats this is a side lock. Thanks

Actually the Syracuse Lefever is a box lock action with side plates and not a true side lock action as might first appear; about the only parts contained on the side plates themselves are the cocking indicators. The Grade G Lefever was one of the most popular model Lefever guns sold; and its price point was on the upper end of the lower Lefever grades spectrum, as Lefever gun grades were produced in ascending order as follows: DS, I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, A, AA, Optimus, and Thousand Dollar Grade with "Presentation" grades built throughout the entire price range. As to your odd choking, you have one of two likely scenarios. The first is that the gun was built for a left-handed shooter; therefore the first barrel fired would logically be the left tube and would have been ordered with a slightly more open chokes, and the second barrel would therefore be the right tube and be bored with the tightest choke. To determine if the original shooter was right of left handed, check trigger bend; the rear trigger will be bent accordingly.
Another theory about the odd choking combination was related to me at the recent Southern Side x Side by an old pigeon shooter when I discovered that an 1893 vintage 30" 10-bore SAC gun I was inspecting was reverse choked; and the trigger bend definitely indicating the gun to have been set up for a right-handed shooter. I was told that many old time pigeon shooters ordered reverse chokes believing it gave them an edge in competition. The idea was to have the tightest choke in the first barrel so that any pigeon would be completely smashed with a center pattern hit. But, in the event the shooter was slightly off and the bird not knocked down, the second and more open choke increased the shooters odds of a good hit; especially the odds of breaking a wing and dropping the bird inside the pigeon ring so that it was scored as a kill.

Interesting Tom and thanks.
Here's Capt. Brewer's thoughts in The Art of Wing Shooting: A Practical Treatise on the Use of the Shotgun
William Bruce Leffingwell 1895
http://books.google.com/books?id=e34EmE3tkfkC

�The secret of pigeon shooting is to kill the birds quickly, they must not be permitted to become hard birds; the quicker the first barrel is fired the better, and the second must follow before the bird is forty yards from the shooter. I can't say that I admire these long kills, because the fact that a man makes a long kill shows that he was slow in the use of the first or second barrel, and that won't do in pigeon shooting.�

�A pigeon gun should be a modified choke � both barrels. The first barrel being bored a little closer than a cylinder, and the second a little more open than a full choke. Bored in that manner, the first barrel will kill the bird within from thirty-five to thirty-seven yards, and the second up to forty yards, and the pigeon ought not be permitted to get beyond that distance when the second barrel is fired. A man must take every legitimate advantage in pigeon shooting. A modified choke gives that advantage, and when a man uses a full choke he handicaps himself.�

�A gun for pigeon shooting should weigh from 7 1/2 to anywhere under 8 pounds. It should be heavy at the breech, with a long and very straight stock, having a drop from 2 to 2 1/2 inches at the butt. These straight stocks are desirable, because they cause one to shoot high, something which is essential, as there is a tendency to undershoot, and nearly every pigeon is missed by shooting under or behind. A pigeon gun should be bored to shoot a trifle high. Birds going from the trap are almost invariably rising, and as there is an almost uncontrollable tendency to aim at a straight-away bird, one should hold a trifle over.�

More here http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfg2hmx7_310ccmnrphm

My problems are over. I will check back after my next shoot.

I forgot to ask, the gun looks in very good condition, should it be safe to shoot modern loads for trap.