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
