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I looked at LEFEVER on Gunbroker this morning. There were 39 LEFEVER SxS shotguns listed, and NONE had a single bid pending. Are sales of classic SxS shotguns very slow at this time? Any particular reason?

I have GE I was thinking of selling, but this doesn't appear to be a good time...

JERRY

I took a look at recent sales of Lefevers on GB and it surprises me how low the prices are. I'm not well versed on American doubles prices, but they sure seemed to be way down there.
https://www.gunbroker.com/All/searc...p;Timeframe=1&Sort=1&PageSize=48

as always, there are relatively few lefever collectors, in comparison to other brands...

and unless you are selling a rare gun, market for double guns is traditional soft, this time of year...things usually pick up in september, as we git closer to huntin season...

Jerry, I know that Mark Beasland has had pretty good luck moving sxs, especially smallbores. 12's have been pretty slow, I think, for some time.

They are slooooow. Two sold in last month. Both lower grades it looks like. Gunbroker is not a well informed group of lefever buyers. Better to list it here for sale than waste time on Gunbrker.

Lefevers sell like hotcakes on Gunbroker when there are decent guns listed without ridiculous reserves. But they just don't have the same cult status and demand that some other vintage guns have. I look at the Lefever listings on Gunbroker nearly every day, and in general, actual sales prices are roughly twice or more what they were 10 years ago... and that includes the much maligned 12 gauge guns.

The recent Thread about the very non-original E Grade with two re-blued (hot blued ?) barrels and blued sideplates, shiny nickel plated action, and black walnut replacement stock shows that there was a lot of bidding interest in a gun that sold way too high given the current condition.

Currently, there are very few NEW Lefever listings there. Most are guns that mikeej99 has trolled there with high reserves for many months, if not years. The nice little DS grade 16 gauge currently listed caught my eye, until I saw those pretty nasty barrel dents. Smallbore DS Lefevers typically have pretty lightly struck barrels, and those sharp dents would probably take some additional striking to totally remove them, which could leave them uncomfortably thin fairly close to the breech. Add in the time or cost of a proper rust blue job, and it adds up to a gun I do not need.

The current best deal in my opinion is a fairly nice 18xxx F grade that hasn't been abused and still has a fair amount of case colors. However, the lower right toe area of the stock has a couple inclusions. And I don't know what to make of the number 4 stamped into the water table and the barrel lump. I won't be bidding on this one either.

I didn't think the prices were particularly low for the quality and condition of the guns.

Lefever were mostly earlier than other American double guns. They tended to be about two decades earlier and much harder used. High grade guns still exist in good condition but most lower grade guns seem to have been hunted hard and put up wet. Nice Lefevers sell a lot easier than worn to the nub ones. But the same is true for Fox, Smith or Ithaca beaters. GunBroker does seem to have a large number of sad Lefevers.

I think Lefever numbers alone give you a nice compact subset of the market to look at... Take a gander at how many crappy LC Smith or Ithaca doubles have been cruising Gunbroker as well. The real simple answer is good stuff sells. Period. Great stuff sells at high prices. I can tell you I haven't found any gems cheaper in the last couple of years than I have before... I recently watched an auction ( not gunbroker ) in which I was hesitant on a $2500 proxibid I thought I made too high and I was going to be stuck with... The piece went for 3750 + premium.
I personally think this is a fine Lefever on gunbroker.

Nitro Specials seem to be selling if they look clean. one poorly refinished, but clean 12ga sold for $660. Another original but raggy looking one for $330.