doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Need help with 'Uncle Dan's' grade F.....

I have no hands on experience with products of Lefever Arms Co. I'm considering purchase of F grade in nice clean original condition (with exception of Jostam? pad), but the mechanism seems quite unique and complex. Are there any weak points in terms of mechanics that I should look for? Thanks.

None........
Let me know if you don't buy it. I like Lefevers!

Jagermeister, double trigger and non-ejector Syracuse Lefevers are just about as bullet proof as any shotgun ever made. And they are unique with their ball and socket hinge. The ball is supposedly adjustable to take up any wear, but often they're frozen up from time. The weakest part of the gun, in my opinion, is the little top lever spring, but that's not a big deal.

Of the 8 or 9 Syracuse Lefevers I've owned, two had broken top lever springs. It's a little tough to find an original, but a relatively simple spring to make.

I would repeat what Mr. Wood said. I shoot mine a lot, and other than a sticky safety on an "FE" I have they just keep on truckin.....If you buy it and dont like it, you missed me at Christmas...(address provided on request)

I really don't know what mechanism you can find for a hammerless double that is much simpler than the LAC guns. They're about as straight forward as they come. There are 5 basic versions of the Lefever hammerless; side cocker, rod cocker, two hook, small sngl hook & large single hook, but I would not call any of them complex.

I took my tool kit for closer examination. The short chambers/ bores are in excellent conditon and ejectors work fine, but the barrels choked cyl/ic are 690mm long the LOP to end of pad is only 340mm. I would expect original stock length to be about 370mm and the barrels (which actually do not appear cut) to be about 710mm long. These are sad finds as one almost never sees one of these in excellent mechanical order with good quantity of original CC remaining on those plates. It almost makes me.....well

Soooo......are you going to buy it?
Is it in the states?

Not sure what will be up, but I'm going to look at it again on saturday. Having Sterlingworth ejector, Ugartechea 40, and Beretta 424 as backup for both (Sterlingworth is ole' and IG is as you know Spanish) I don't need another double.
The gun is at Greentop Sporting Goods in Glen Allen Va.

Curious as to what the asking price is, there's an "F" in a shop near me that doesn't sound as nice as the one you're looking at and it's listed for $2K.

The asking price is $1350. It would be worth more if the barrels were 28" and stock had 14"+ lop. The fe release is kind of neat being round push in botton. I noticed the frame is stamped F not FE, but it kicks caps away after triggers are pulled and the action is opened.

A LOP of 13 3/8" is indeed rather short & bbls just over 27" would give a high likelyhood of having been cut. With them still touching though I bet they started as 28". Someone may have dented in the muzzles & cut just enought to clean it up. When you look at it again, tell us a little more about it. That push-buton forend release is more common on the earlier ones though they do show up on later ones as well. See what the SN is & if it has a hook under the bbls engaging another in the frame or just a single hook in the frame lifted by pin through the slotted bbl lug.
Don't recall having ever seen a Lefever marked with an E after the grade for ejector, though they are normally referred to in this manner as FE for this one.

Typically, they weren't stamped with an E after the grade to indicate an ejector gun. If you are saying the barrels are 27.16" long, that is not a factory standard length. There are some factory 26" barrels, but they are scarce. Having seen quite a few variations from what is supposed to be on Lefevers, I would not be shocked if factory records ever surfaced, that some special order barrel lengths left the factory. But if I were buying this gun, I would price it as a cut barreled shooter. Factory pads were installed, but naturally a longer more modern LOP over an original buttplate would enhance the value.

The SN is 263xx (didn't write last two digits since it's not my gun). The real lug is split in 2 parts. The SN on tg, action, and fe match. One barrel # appears to match rest of the gun (last couple of digits are not well struck) the other barrel # is 224xx. My assumption is that the barrel with 263xx is replacement (# were struck with slightly different punch and not as deeply). I suspect it is at this time that the tubes were made 27". This was pro job proly at the factory (not detactable other then # struck and tiny monograms under each barrel half way between flats and fe hook are different).
Keith, the pad was not added at the factory and the fit could be bit better.
It's a sharp looking gun with duckling on one plate and snipe in patch of grass digin' for worms on the other. Had to look pretty closely to spot that timberdoodle as the plates have nearly all cc left and the work is that fine.

Me gots hold on it till end of maniana. Any final thoughts?

Its a Lefever, aint it? Nuf said...The best...Miller, I just noticed on my "F" 16 ejector gun, a + after the serial number...???

There is nothing like 'Uncle Dan's' double. It will be veeeeery looooong time before next one in this shape comes along. If it was unaltered gun I suspect it would be worth about 3.5K US.

LD;
My only Ejector Lefever is also an F, though 12ga. I don't recall a + but will check later. In fact I can't recall having ever seen a + with the SN on one. Perhaps another may have knowledge of this mark.

Lefever buffs....how rare is a Lefever "FE" grade with a factory straight stock? Gun serial number 43463. It is a 12 gauge, with 30" chain damascus barrels with two factory ivory beads and very tight chokes, snap off/on forend. Engraving on the sideplates....LH side is a snipe or woodcock and RH side is a duck. Any help is appreciated.

Dustin

It's back in used gun rack. I didn't buy it.

LeFusil, if that gun is unaltered it's fairly rare. Straight stocked Lefever's are fairly hard to find. The only two I've seen have both been 12ga. G's.

Here's the pics of the gun. What year was this thingy made?

It was made around 1903. There are no factory records, so that's just an estimate based on Bob Elliott's extrapolation. I have a straight grip FE. Lefever made a fair number of straight grip guns. What is more rare on a Lefever is the chain Damascus. Most of the Lefevers I have seen are crolle (fingerprint) Damascus. I have seen a couple of chain Damascus ones and a stars & stripes Damascus gun. Both of these are less common than crolle. In any case, you have a nice looking Lefever.

Dustin: I'd like to add your chain damascus pic to the Lefever Damascus album http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/18020839
Could you please e-mail me at revdoc2@cox.net with your full name so I can make an attribution?

Drew, email sent.

Richard,
Thanks for the comments. Did you notice the rib matting on my gun? I'm not sure I've seen another Lefever with that particular rib matting. The "checkered" sides are a bit different yes?? Would my Lefever have been a "trap" gun? It has twin Ivory beads and the stock dimensions are rather high for a Lefever, more like modern dimensions. Thanks..

Dustin

Some years back I saw an EE 12ga straight gripped Lefever with Krupp bbls & no safety. There was no indication the slot had ever been cut for one. If it was welded up it was a fantastic job. Unfortunately someone had "Re-finished the wood & had sanded with a heavy hand & ruined everey fit where it joined metal & then filled it with some kind of wood putty. Was truly a sickening sight for so fine a gun.
My FE, SN 38025 12ga 30", full pistol grip, also has chain damascus. It does not have the rib cut like LeFusil's or the 2nd sight. Engraving is a duck on right plate, quail on the left. Of interest is the bbl is marked 38025 E, but it also has an F marked seperately. All features of the gun show it to be an F grade. Bbls are also marked S B & Co.