doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Lefever questions

Patrick,

I don't know the gauge, but I really like your gun. I'm not technically oriented, but your cocking system looks like a double hook, i.e. one in the frame and one dropping down from the rear lug to connect with it. That would be true to the date of production I mentioned. I hope you find barrels to fit. I could be completely wrong, but I think you need a set of barrels with a hook dropping from the rear lug. Others should be able to check me on this. I welcome being corrected, so long as you end up with the right info. Jent, are your barrels for a double hook gun?

I believe there were three 12 ga frames, and the smallest was also shared with the 16 ga. The 20 ga or XX frame was also shared with the 16. Contact Ken Hurst, he had all the various dim. at one time, for his Lefever project.

Craig

I don't have a 20ga & only one 16ga. The 16 @ 6 3/4lbs is not a particularly light one & it only measures about 1 1/16" pin to pin. I have 12ga's with pin spacings from 1 1/8" up to about 1 5/16". This one sounds like a light 12 to me.
Rich is correct about it being a two hook gun. Also I don't recall seeing a dog on the plate of an F grade except on these early ones. This would all appear to validate the age given.

It's a double hook cocking model - Nice.

If you really want to know send the gun to Buck Hamlin in Pevely, MO. You might get lucky and he may have a set of barrels that will fit. By the way that is too nice of a gun not to try to get shooting again.

I have a double hook 16 G. It is an XX frame. The pins measure 1.012 center to center. This is an in frame ejector frame. I don't know if that helps.

Thank you all for the input. I still don't know the gauge "as built" but I am assuming a light 12 or maybe a 16.

Patrick

Best of luck with this. Very good idea to make contact with Buck Hamlin, who sees more Lefevers in a year than anyone. Buck might come across a set of barrels worth trying out. It's a very tricky proposition, since there was so much hand finishing with the doll's head. Any particular set of barrels, even close in the serial number range as your frame, may not fit. That said, I have two G grade double hooks, not too far apart in the SN range, whose barrels I can switch back and forth. You could get lucky and your nice looking frame is worth trying!

I participated in a survey of frame sizes on the first generation Lefever forum, which is now superceded by a new forum. I don't know if I printed the thread before the forum was changed. We found many different dimensions for frame size and pin separation with no standard dimensions discovered. I will look for the information for Patrick.

OK, I found the print of the frame size forum thread from March 2007. I measured 16 gauge pin spacings as small as 1.00. The 1 1/8 spacing is normally a 12 gauge frame. I measured ten gauge sidecockers at 1 7/32 (enormous and a correction from the original post) and another at only 1 1/8. Another ten, a pivot lever automatic, is also on the big 1 7/32 pin separation frame. (this 1 7/32 is a correction from the original post) Without measuring an eight gauge, a very light ten in my collection, or a marked XX frame, I got four pin separations without leaving home. Another person who sent in measurements to the survey came up with four other measurements, but I am reluctant to share them because a couple were a bit off the wall. I don't know why I didn't measure the PS on my 7 1/4 pound fluid steel ten, but I will assume it is on the little frame with 1 1/8 pin separation. Patrick, I assume your gun is a light twelve.