after several attempts, i have spoken for my first lefever shotgun....i have visited the LACA site and gleaned a good deal of related information from the archived information here. gun has been offered on gb for some time now, and the seller has responded to my questions and requests for additional photos, etc. will be pleased to have the gun in hand, and to read what comments might be posted...
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/902323891 https://imgur.com/a/IfLsfb6best regards,
tom
What does he mean by "There is a bit of solder on the rear of the barrels."?
What are the bore measurements?
It looks like a good one for the price you paid. Remember all Lefever guns are antiques so if you break something fixing it will require some expertise. My first one was a G grade and I've had it since the mid 90's, and still shoot it. Enjoy your new gun...Geo
What does he mean by "There is a bit of solder on the rear of the barrels."?
You can see it in Photo no. 8
The short rear section of the top rib apparently lifted, and was soldered back down without correctly cleaning the excess solder around the joint. It makes you wonder if the job was done well, insofar as the actual soldering and materials used... or if it might fail again. It appears that the stock was refinished, but it has some nice fiddleback figure.
I have a 10,000 range E Lefever with solder overflow in the same place, maybe from a repair. I can't imagine the extension rib coming loose, but I guess that's what happened. Except for my gun, yours is the first I've seen with that situation. I've never cleaned mine up, but it should be fairly simple. It's probably not soft solder.
the seller says his principal interest is black powder rifles, and that he has had the F grade since the mid 80's....at which time he shot the gun using commercial bp shells imported by navy arms. stated that other than the questionable resolder job on the rear portion of the rib, and a coat of varnish on the stock, he believes the gun is original and largely well kept - those changes were present when he got the gun. he does not have means of measuring bores, but says they are clean, i asked about weight and he estimated it as around 8#. based on several texts and a reasonable phone conversation, i decided i would roll the dice....
i have never actually seen one of the pivot lever lefevers, and am intrigued by the similarity to the westley richards top bolt design...as i say, it will be my first lefever in 45 years of interest in guns. in years past i was pretty active re: gun shows, but for the past 20 or so have not followed them with any real enthusiasm...last trip to tulsa in 2003 - and local shows are more useful for visiting than for seeing anything of genuine interest to me. based on my limited experience i suspect that this part of the country never had a significant number of lefevers to begin with. i have been quietly looking for one for years now, and have come to the realization that i'm not going to find one "in person".
based on my research, i see this is a two hook gun from the era (1890-91?) when all the adjustments were present. several adjusting screws show evidence of "poor screwdriver behavior", and i think i understand the function of all of them - except for one. my research shows just a few guns that have a single screw located inside the patent script on the floor plate....can someone explain the purpose of that screw?
i own and shoot a few 19th century guns, and am fairly well versed in the practical limitations regarding pressures and shell lengths....i assume this gun was built for 2 & 5/8 shells. after i measure the bores and chambers, i will have a better idea of what i am dealing with. as always i appreciate the insights that are offered here.
best regards,
tom