doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Lefevers--gotta love 'em..... ;)

2-Piper, I'd like to see pictures of your Infallible triggered gun. I have 2 L.C. Smiths - one a 00 grade 12 and the other a field grade 20 with Infallibles installed.

The 00 grade was my first double and also the reason I signed up on this board back in '99 (I think). Many hours were spent trying to figure out what it was, as it is unmarked inside and out. My 20ga is marked "Infallible" on the trigger blade just below the frame.

I also have a copy of an early Infallible catalog. I will start a new thread with pictures if anyone cares.

I should apologize for a mild hijack of this thread...

Bryndon

That looks like a parts cleanup gun. Scraping the parts bin to finish up the last of the inventory bought from Lefever. I wonder if Ithaca ever intended continuing to make Lefevers after the purchase or just wanted to eliminate another maker and use their name later on the special.

One thing I just noticed--the struckout/struckover numbers on the sideplates and action are the same....65818....hmmm.....if you had almost all the makings of a gun why change the numbers?

Joe, could it be an apprentice was just practicing his numbers ? Look on the backside of the ejector hammers ?

Just a theory, but I suppose that the over-stamped number 69818 could have been discovered to have already been used on another gun in the production process. After all, they are only 51 numbers apart. Quite likely that they were built during the same week. Two mixed up work orders, perhaps, and a little steel erasing to correct the error. Perhaps the error occurred with one being started in Syracuse, and the other started during the transition to Ithaca. We'll likely never know. Maybe an employee even got to purchase the over-stamped gun at a discount.

The F on the barrels is no surprise. There are many Lefevers that have barrels which are stamped a grade higher than the gun. But I have never seen one with a barrel stamp of a lower grade. It seems they would occasionally use higher grade parts to complete an order, but never do the same using lower grade parts. This may also explain some of the DS grades that are seen with dolls head barrels, cocking indicators, and LACo. monogram buttplates. You might get more than you paid for... but never less.

Some may recall that several years ago, an Optimus and a G grade both appeared for sale on Gunbroker at the same time, and both had identical serial numbers. What are the odds of it happening in the first place, and what would the odds be of both showing up on the same internet auction site, at the same time 100 years later? This anomaly caused some to question the authenticity of the Optimus, but experts who examined it agree that it was legitimate. The same guy wisely bought both guns. Hopefully, they will never be parted because they make for a most interesting Lefever mystery.

I think the Optimus you are talking about was sold last week. I don't know if the G went with it.

Keith, they're 3,949 apart

Holy crap Joe, I glanced at the numbers and read 69818 instead of 65818. 69818 minus 69767 would be 51 numbers apart. My math was OK... but my eyes put my foot in my mouth. So much for that theory. Thanks for the correction.