doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Lefever C 10 Gauge

Could be wrong, but I am thinking the extra bbls are E 11885. I can readily see bob's point on the 5. Also look closely at the F. Right in the line of one of the damascus swirls it appears to be the up-turned point of the lower arm of an E, which exactly matches the down turned point of the upper arm. I think the E just didn't fully stamp. I suspect it was returned to the factory for a 2nd set of bbls & for whatever reason was fit with a set of E bbls. If you notice the damascus figure it is coarser on this set than the 30" originals, in keeping with E grade bbls. I suspect factory done because of having both SN's, though some enterprizing gunsmith could have done so.

Tim
Lower grades were built without wings. Later C grades dont have them.
I think your gun was sent back to Lefever for another set of barrels and they just happened to have a set of F grade barrels to put on it. This is not uncomon. Ive seen a B with Opt barrels.
Early guns seem to have a grade stamped on the barrels and later gun dont. I dont know why.
bob

Tim
I just looked at the serail number list and I have 11885 listed as a 10ga F grade with 30" Dam. So it looks like they found another set of barrels for 11885 after they used them for your gun.
Bob

Bob and Miller,

Thank you both.

Under glass, what I thought was an "F" turns out to be unfinished at the bottom. A short distance way, as Miller notes from the photo, is what looks like the point of the bottom bar of an "E." That little mark has clearly been stamped in the metal, suggesting that "E" is a real possibility.

Wonder if a factory error caused someone to mis-stamp an F-grade purchase, s/n 11885, on the barrels as an E with the 5 badly stamped as well, and the factory decided to use the mis-stamped barrels for the C-grade second pair, adding the s/n of the C-grade to the other tube. A new and correctly stamped set of barrels likely went to the F grade 10 bore that Bob has recorded.

Interesting.

Regards, Tim

Tim,
Not long ago we were discussing weak stamps on an early Syracuse Lefever 16 I had recently acquired. There were some questions about about an "F" stamp that also appeared to be a weak "E" upon closer inspection. Below is a link to that thread which shows some images of the Lefever and stamps.

http://doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=55707

O-D

Tim,

I don't think you see wings below C grade. Your gun is a great one. Keith did a beautiful job on the stock. My C grade 10 gauge, 32" Bernard pattern bbls., has a top lever instead of a thumb opener. It is SN 9,645. It looks to me as if your 28" bbls. were added by the owner, who probably sent it back to the factory to get a set of shorter, lighter barrels for upland hunting. Buck Hamlin has great insight and knowledge about second sets of barrels. He can see things in serial numbers and their positioning that tell a story about the gun and its barrels to Buck's educated eye. You may want to contact him for his insights. I know we have communicated about your 10 gauge before. It is a dandy.

Rich

Rich and O-D,

Thanks for the lead to the 16 gauge thread. Seems a problem stamping "E's" on those early Lefever.

Believe the consensus that the original owner added a second set of barrels is correct. I'll try them out on sporting clays tomorrow with luck, ujsing gaugemate golds and appropriate 12 gauge fodder.

Regards, Tim

Back from Greenbelt Public Skeet & Trap (used to be Beretta) range. Did 50 sporting clays and then 25 skeet. Used the 30-inch barrels with gaugemate gold chamber inserts and Win AA with a 1 oz. load.

My shooting was poor although I began to get it towards the end of the round of skeet (I shot the skeet gun up to reduce variables due to sloppy gunmounting). Did meet a fellow board member who knows Ken Hurst and Boone Berlin down in Robersonville.

Noticed on shooting pairs that, if I shot the first bird and the second clay was a "no bird (breaking up at launch), then, when I reloaded the right barrel and called for a pair again, the first barrel (right) would not fire. On returning home have used the snap caps to observe that you can break the barrels enough to extract a round but not to cock the hammer(s). Lesson: Positive but not really vigorous barrel breaking is needed to ensure cocked hammers. Fortunately the cocking indicators let me know.

Regards