Drew-- I think you are "spot on" in your response to this gentleman from PA- with some superb gun dogs, and possibly, an over-inflated ego that makes him spin "fantasy fables" about what well might be known as "tarted-up"shotguns.
That LeFever Nitro Special is a garish example of the worse taste in gun "embellishment" that serves no useful purpose afield. I tend to lean more toward the "Hemingway viewpoint" Guns are tools, and as he said it best: "a GUN is to shoot with"--
If you might have read the recent books on the late writer and his guns, you will see that the guns he used the most over his adult lifetime were "plain field guns- The M12- 30" Full- solid rib, the early Browning O/U 28" solid rib, DT, AE- and his G&H Springfield 1903 sporterized rifle.
Many years ago, I had a LeFever Nitro Special 20 gauge- for grouse and woodcock mainly-- 28" open choked, extractors, red solid Ithaca pad-- fit me like a Armani suit on a Goombah-- and before then, I had a LeFever Durston special, also in 20 gauge. Both guns fit me well, and accounted for a few birds every now and then.
Neither had engraving, or Germanic styled carved stocks- they were "tools of the trade"
I also concur with the gents who stated that few grouse hunters would take a high grade engraved "show piece" shotgun into the thickets and brambles one encounters while hunting grouse (and other game birds)--
RWTF
Last edited by Run With The Fox; 03/10/19 05:46 PM.
