I still have bad feelings about Rock Island with regard to the "stated" condition of an early special order LeFever. It was a damn good thing that I drove the 420 miles (round trip) to look at the gun before the auction. When I first saw it sitting on the table I was giddy as a school girl because the outside looked great. The exterior was beautiful with a very high percentage of original case color and beautiful Damascus. The coverage of engraving was up there with an "A Grade", beautiful dogs and scroll. The wood had nice figure as well, typical of the higher grade LeFevers. I figured I'd be paying whatever necessary to take it home with me then I opened it up and looked down the tubes. My heart sank as the bores, said in print by RI to be "bright", looked like old rotted out exhaust pipes with deep pits running the entire length of the bores. I was pissed, actually pissed to the point of being openly vocal to the RI staff at hand. I'm generally none too pleased about people who waste my time but this really did a number on what I try to maintain as a friendly disposition. Sure I suppose I could have entertained the idea of sleeving the barrels but of course I had no idea of what another might bid not knowing the actual condition of the gun. I have not gone back to RI since, so much for trust.
Mark
