doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Straight Grip Lefever Shotguns

A recent offering for a straight grip H Grade Lefever on Gunbroker is what prompted me to start this topic:

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/958263336

Straight grip Lefevers are not very common. I'd guess that less than one percent of the total production were built in that configuration. It is said that all of the Lefever shotguns that are original straight grip guns have a long straight trigger guard tang. Those tangs are much longer than the tang of the pistol grip or semi-pistol grip guns. But I have seen several that looked to be original, yet they had a short, straight trigger guard tang such as the one on this H Grade in the Gunbroker link above. Here are pics of both types of trigger guards. I thought about bidding on it, just to have the opportunity to look for a serial number stamped into the wood under the guard tang. I'm wondering if both are original, or if the shorter version has been altered.





I have seen a few that were obviously restocked, and simply had the original trigger guard bent to fit the new straight stock. I saw one that had a long tang that had apparently had material welded on to convert it to a long tang configuration. The weld job wasn't great, and it showed up in the bluing too. This particular H Grade has me stumped though. If the stock is not original, then whoever made it did a very good job of making it look correct. Even the flaws in the checkering of the buttstock and forend seem to match. The inletting seems right, and both pieces of wood seem to be very similar too, right down to the fiddleback grain. The nose of the comb did look a little high to me, and lacks fluting. But a lot of H grades did not have the flutes that are found on higher grade guns.

So what do the Lefever guys here think? And if you own a straight grip Lefever gun, does it have a long trigger guard tang? If not, does it appear to be original or restocked?

I have only owned one straight stocked Lefever which I bought close to 25 years ago from FE Sandlin. I only have one picture of the now long gone gun and it does not show the trigger guard. If I recall correctly, and I think I do, that gun had a short trigger guard and appeared to be original. If it had been a little longer with a bit less drop I would likely still own that gun, it served me well as a backup on a trip to Montana when I tripped and damaged an already repaired stock on a British boxlock. Great trip, lots of birds both Pheasants and Waterfowl. That little dog was a firecracker, talented as could be but it bit on the wildside. We were a good match for one another.

I feel it has when they were built as for having long or short tangs. Or by who built them. If they were built by Dan they have long tangs.

I have two H grade with long tangs, one G with long tang and one G with short tang that are original, not re-stocks. I have one E which has a long tang and a F grade with a long tang. So based off my small sample most were long tangs. The G grade with a short tang might have been a rush job. I have seen a lot of odd combinations on LeFevers and some you have to conclude they were using what was on hand, to quickly fill orders instead of losing a sale. Barrels being Damascus instead of twist on a H grade or wood clearly better than expected for a grade. LeFevers are truly like a box of chocolates in that you never know what you are getting until you get it in hand and open it up. The oddest two examples I wish I had bought was a DS with a twist and Damascus barrel combination or the DS which had a dolls head.

Thanks for the replies. So far, it confirms what I had thought. I myself have two H Grade straight grip guns that have the long tang, and a straight grip G that has the short tang. One of the H grades has very high drop at heel and comb dimensions, which is far different than what we often see on many vintage doubles. As I recall, the DAH is only about 1 1/2" which is way too high for me.

I have learned to expect the unexpected with these guns. The very first DS grade I bought had dolls head twist barrels, capped pistol grip stock, the LAC monogram buttplate, and cocking indicators. I was a bit disappointed at first because I bought it when I was still under the belief that Damascus and Twist barrels were unsafe to shoot. Robert Elliot, the author of the Lefever books, told me I should be happy to have it because it was a much more scarce variation than the typical DS grade. Another unusual one I have is a 12 gauge G grade that has arrowhead shaped drop points on the stock behind the sideplates. I thought it was probably restocked, but the correct serial number is stamped into the wood under the trigger guard tang. I've seen a couple others with the same style drop points, but they were higher grade guns. I suppose it could have been a lunch box special or a gun built for an employee. It seems like whenever I see one with unusual features, the nontypical feature is something normally seen on higher grade guns, such as Damascus barrels on an H or Krupp fluid steel barrels on an F grade. I think that when they made substitutions to complete an order, they would give the customer more for his money, but never less.

Agreed the straight grip Lefevers are pretty rare. I have only owed a few. A 20 ga. XX frame straight grip would be a gem.
The 2 straight grips I have for sale in the classified section are original long tang styles. I had not ever seen a short tang straight grip gun until this post. What about the the idea that they were originally pistol or semi-pistol stocks that were sent back to Lefever to convert to straight grips?
The fluting in the stock comb also seems to be fade with later serial # guns. I have seen some late E's with out it.

I rarely speak as if I know something as a fact, but I will bite on this one. I love Lefevers and I love a straight grip. They are certainly far less common but the 1% assessment above is a little dramatic. Mathematically that just doesn’t add up. Uncommon? Rare? Scarce? Yes.
I can go further into photos, examples I’ve owned, examples I’ve seen, etc. but I’m going to refer to the specific question of the short Tang.
I have yet to see an original straight grip with a short tang in any Lefever configurations and by that I mean nice guns, graded guns, guns I’ve owned, and guns too junkie to purchase. I am not saying never and if KYJon says he owns one I take that as gospel but sure would like to see photos.

I saw the gun in question and did not even put it on my watchlist as I immediately thought it was an alteration. Top line of the checkering is not long enough front to rear and should continue rearward closer to the tang screw. The “meat” of the checkering doesn’t properly fill the grip. The comb looks unusually high because of the proportion where the grip knob was cut off the bottom and the bottom line of the stock resized to fit. It is also my opinion that the checkering lines that meet on the bottom would have run parallel to the center line of the gun and not radiused out as they are. The factory had patterns, and they followed them. It was not So loose as to miss the grip coverage and the bottom line just because somebody felt like doing something different that day.

If I am wrong I think somebody got an absolute steal as I would’ve paid more than double that for the same gun with an original straight grip.

In my personal experience the only two MAKERS that I have seen short rounded tip tang guns that were original straight grips came from Tobin(owned two seen 4) and Wilkes-Bare (own 1), And I would submit the Wilkes-Bare for a second opinion.

My little eight gauge C grade is a straight grip. I don't have a lot of experience with eight gauge Lefevers, so I don't know how common they are.

Eightbore, my guess is that’s about 2 straight grips of 30 8 bores (Still well over the 1 percent mark!)

Mark, you have me wondering if my G is legit, I think it is and always thought it was a cleanup parts gun or rush to fill an order gun. I’ve seen higher grade marked barrels on low grade guns and figured they were some reason for the upgrade, like rush orders or putting on a set of32” barrels on a gun made with 30” barrels to fill an order. On my gun the stock looks factory and aged like the gun, not a later replacement. The lines don’t match up from a pistol grip to straight grip conversions. We have all seen some poorly done conversion.

I don’t recall if I pulled the trigger guard to see if the serial number or grade is stamped. It may be a few days before I can get a chance to pull it off for a good look, see. But I have seen a couple without stamps so the lack is not a certain disqualifier. For that matter nothing makes it impossible to stamp it to match.

I almost bought a B or C grade which had a stock with plainer wood than I expected and no frame or barrel stamp. With the sellers permission, I pulled the trigger guard to see if the Grade or Serial number was marked. No marking we’re present. None at all and it did not look like any ever did so I concluded it might be a switched stock with a very long ago checkering upgrade or this was just the best blank on hand. So it’s real grade was unproven. For the asking price not knowing was too big of a gamble to me. I would not be amazed to see that same gun with a stamp today. I understand grade stamps were added to stop retailers from claiming low grade guns were higher grade guns.