doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Another Lefever variation?

Stumbled on this Lefever which has a a single selective trigger according to the add, is that little gizmo next to the top lever the selector? http://www.griffinhowe.com/usedgun-sg.cfm , scroll down to Lefever.

That is an "Infalable" single trigger. They went out of biz in the 20's. Ken

Dont ever take a gun 'Down' with that Indefatigable'--Indifallable..Whatever. I spelt it with just 7 letters from the Alphabet!!)..without at least 2 other Gunsmiths waiting to catch the parts as it comes to pieces... We had a Scott 'Monte Carlo' that had been 'Highly Tuned' for a World Champion Live Pigeon Shooter.....I sent it on to the Worlds Leading Single Trigger Expert,....in 2 boxes! some of its parts had been Chrome Plated, to speed its 'Lock-Time'!!! It would make a feature gun in a Stephen King story.... I'm sure the must function well, when New'.. CC

I have a "Very Late" H grade Lefever with one of these Infallible triggers on it. The button is the selector. They have the unusual feature of the selector itself moving everytime gun is fired & it does not reset itself upon opening the gun. Thus if you normally used one for hunting with it set for right bbl first & fired only one shot & reloaded, you would have to set back to right or would fire left first next time around. I think there may be a possibility that some of these triggers may have been fitted at the Ithaca plant on late guns, but have nothing positive on this. This ia an earlier gun & would undoubtably be an after market instlation. Mine has 1912 patent dates on it which are by A H Worrest of Lancaster PA.

Alfred Harvey Worrest – Infallible Single Trigger – Lancaster Arms Co

From researching and studying Alfred’s patents it appears that Alfred took an interest in, and began designing his Single Trigger mechanism around 1900 to 1904. His first patent no. 829,453 was issued on Aug. 28, 1906. His application for that patent was filed on May 3, 1904. It is a complex mechanism built into an L. C. Smith shotgun. It shows that he probably had some experience working professionally as a gunsmith because he completely redesigned the L. C. Smith locks, and his trigger mechanism was built as part of the receiver and locks, and not just an added unit. This design had a problem in that it required a large amount of wood to be removed between and at the back of the locks, weakening an already heavily inletted stock head. The gun with this trigger was also probably very difficult and tricky to assemble. This design shows his concept of the switching block which was the foundation of all of his patents that followed, and was a major feature of the highly dependable and successful “Infallible” trigger. Alfred’s second patent no. 871,550 was applied for on Aug. 10, 1906, just 18 days before his previous patent was issued. That patent was issued on Nov. 19, 1907 and the design was built around a “Minier” model Ithaca Gun Co. double. This triggers design had been changed drastically from the previous one removing many of its faults and problems, and the unit was built onto the guns trigger plate. All of the elements of the “Infallible” trigger are found in this design, but it was not a self contained unit. With this refined design it appears that Alfred began planning on making it’s production a commercial venture. The 1912 edition of the History of Lancaster, Pennsylvania states that the Lancaster Arms Co. who were the manufacturers of the Infallible Single Trigger, had been established two years earlier and was owned and operated by A. H. Worrest. The business was located at 126 E. King St. and the article goes on to state that it was a “well known and prosperous enterprise, his plant is perfectly appointed throughout, and the finest and best class of work is executed”. This not only included the manufacture of the trigger units, but also all kinds of fire arms repairs, and some complete doubles appear with the Lancaster Arms Co. name, but it is unknown if these were made by them, or imported by them and their name added to them prior to their sale. The article goes on to state that Mr. A. H. Worrest “is a gentleman of large experience in this line of industry and thoroughly understands its every detail”.
Following this patent with the next two can be a bit confusing. On June 25, 1909 he applied for another patent which was issued on June 18, 1912 as no. 1,029,781. Then on July 23, 1910 he applied for his fourth patent which was issued on Jan. 2, 1912 as no. 1,013,254. Patent no. 1,013,254 covered improvements to no. 1,029,781 which had not even been issued yet. Looking back you could say that this is a case of the “chicken preceding the egg”. Both of these patents developed the trigger mechanism into a self contained unit.
On Oct. 16, 1911 Alfred applied for his last trigger patent no. 1,029,782 which was also issued on June 18, 1912 and covers additional improvements which brought it to its final form as it was produced. (the above from Larry B Schuknect's book on double gun patents)

I have seen a 1913-vintage Walter King letter to a customer where he says "As to your request we have removed our infallible single trigger, and installed the double trigger system."

crossedchisles

You mean that if I bring my Indefatigable' --Indifallable.. Whatever, over with a couple of pints you will not show me how to take it apart and put it back togeather? Talent, but not the desire to share. Such a shame.

Maybe the reason that they have been out of bussiness since 1920, or whenever, was that the design was way too complex, too prone to screwing up and not worth the powder it would take to blow them all to H... . I have come across three of these over they years. Never been so bold that I wanted to try to "fix them". All three had "minor to major" problems and I could honestly tell the owners that I would not touch one of them with a ten foot pole. Give me a Miller trigger that is bad enough for my taste. Or better yet give me two triggers and I figure out which one to pull first on my own time.