Author |
Message |
< 16ga. Guns ~ Lefever side plate shotgun |
|
Posted:
Wed Oct 20, 2021 1:39 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3375
Location: The Great Northwet
|
|
Swampy16 wrote: |
UncleDanFan wrote: |
I've owned a bunch (my current Lefever is damascus gun however), and as long as the wall thickness is good, Lefever krupp steel barrels were as good as any other. I certainly wouldn't worry about shooting 1oz 2.5"loads in it if it checks out.
Just for grins, here's my current 12 Lefever, which I've owned for about ten years now. It's a one of a kind special order gun with a serrated wood butt (only one like it I've ever seen), that weighs 6.6lbs with 30" damascus barrels, choked light mod/light full. Feels like an xx small frame 16, except for the slightly wider frame and barrels. It's a dream to shoot.
|
My God ! That gun is as sweet as they come !!! I had a really nice F grade for a while but Bubba got hold of it at some point and the wall thickness was too thin for grouse hunting. I was afraid of denting it. A lot of people feel you need to hone pitted barrels. I disagree. If you have pitted barrels have them looked at by a pro. If none of the pits are deep just leave it alone. Why remove metal is my thought. But they definitely need to be looked at. I dream of one day having a light 16 or 20 like yours but with modern dimensions which likely means it needs restocking. What are the dimensions on yours? No, I’m not asking you to sell it, lol.
|
Thanks! I've done a lot of work to it. It has [original] modern dimensions of 1.5 x 2.5 x 14 1/8. It also has no grade marked on the water table, and no cocking indicators. I think the person who ordered this told 'ole Uncle Dan to do everything he could to shave off extra weight. With that in mind, the barrels are struck very light, and weigh 3.1lbs by themselves. I just picked up another GE Lefever, a lightly used, heavy barreled 8.2lb chain damascus gun that I plan to use for ducks and clays. The barrels are almost twice as thick as the special order gun, and weigh 4.2 lbs by themselves, more than a pound heavier than the lightweight gun. Both are 30" long. Much to my pleasant surprise, the barrels on this heavy Lefever also appear to be factory chambered with 3" chambers. The barrels are massive, and undoubtedly made for heavy loads as Researcher alluded to above.
Here's a pick of the barrel walls at the breech:
Here's a pic of the barrels from the special order lightweight gun for comparison. They are 1/8" narrrower at the breech, and 1/8" wider than an xx frame 16. It's basically a 14ga chambered to 12ga:
Here's a pic of the beautiful chain damascus underneath where it hasn't worn off. I've always wanted a Lefever with a set of these barrels:
Here's a pic of the two Lefever 12's, and my two Husky 16's. The new Lefever GE at top has had the comb shaved down for some reason to 2 x 3 x 14.5" dimensions, so I'll be raising it half an inch, and shaving a half inch off the bottom, then converting it to straight grip and re-graining. This four gun battery covers all my shotgunning bases, from light upland, to clays and waterfowl. Of course, I could just get a new, modern lightweight 12 or 16 with choke tubes and use it for everything, but where's the fun in that?
|
_________________ Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com
The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Wed Oct 20, 2021 6:03 pm
|
|
|
Joined: 12 Sep 2010
Posts: 1975
Location: Maine
|
|
Nice armamentarium there, Mark.
Thank you, too, for the compare and contrast pictures of heavily and lightly struck barrels. The reader can now see what's being talked about when that issue is discussed.
FWIW, the barrels on my Baltimore Arms are quite heavily struck - basically like yours.
If I email someone a pic or two, can they post them here? |
_________________ “A man’s rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.”
Frederick Douglass, November 15, 1867, speech in Williamsport, Pa. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Wed Oct 20, 2021 8:39 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3375
Location: The Great Northwet
|
|
Dave in Maine wrote: |
Nice armamentarium there, Mark.
Thank you, too, for the compare and contrast pictures of heavily and lightly struck barrels. The reader can now see what's being talked about when that issue is discussed.
FWIW, the barrels on my Baltimore Arms are quite heavily struck - basically like yours.
If I email someone a pic or two, can they post them here?
|
Sure, you can email them to me at mark@marklarsonart.com |
_________________ Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com
The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Oct 24, 2021 7:28 am
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3375
Location: The Great Northwet
|
|
Here pics of Dave's Baltimore with its beautiful damascus and thick barrels:
|
_________________ Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com
The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:02 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1258
Location: Nebraska
|
|
I wish I had taken pictures of the barrels of a couple 12ga I grades, one of which was mine and the other belongs to a friend of mine. Much like the images here, as if one had been built for ducks and the other for upland carry.
We have the history of Fox sorting sets by starting weight and stamping them, I haven't read of that being done by the other manufacturers but they most likely had similar ways of doing things. |
_________________ Bore, n. Shotgun enthusiast's synonym for "gauge" ; everybody else's synonym for "shotgun enthusiast." - Ed Zern |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 1:27 am
|
|
|
Joined: 12 Sep 2010
Posts: 1975
Location: Maine
|
|
Parker also stamped the weight on the flats of their barrel sets, but that was finished weight.
As I understand it Fox stamped its weights (0,1,2,3,4) more as an index of how heavily the barrels were struck. |
_________________ “A man’s rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.”
Frederick Douglass, November 15, 1867, speech in Williamsport, Pa. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Dec 12, 2021 5:04 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3375
Location: The Great Northwet
|
|
Took the GE 12 out today (it's the pistol grip gun in the photo above, that I've since converted to straight grip) and won an open "Meat Shoot" elimination trap event. First time I've ever competed, and it felt awesome to win with a 110 yr old damascus gun (I was the only sxs shooter there), out of all the dozens of sbt guns, o/u's, autos, and pumps. I could hear people talking. Pretty cool.
|
_________________ Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com
The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:31 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 2176
Location: Kansas High Plains
|
|
UncleDanFan wrote: |
(I was the only sxs shooter there), out of all the dozens of sbt guns, o/u's, autos, and pumps. I could hear people talking. Pretty cool.
|
I know the feeling! When I'm shooting my vintage SBT's I'm often asked, "what are you shooting?" and when I say "Parker SC" or "Ithaca Knick" I usually just get a blank look and an "Oh.". I'm not sure many of them have ever heard of either maker . |
_________________ I feel a warm spot in my heart when I meet a man whiling away an afternoon...and stopping to chat with him, hear the sleek lines of his double gun whisper "Sixteen." - Gene Hill, Shotgunner's Notebook |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:42 pm
|
|
|
Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 452
Location: WI
|
|
Dave In Maine, those barrels are pure art!
I hauled my L.C. Smith Trap Grade out to the club last fall, and shot two rounds with it. I did OK with it, sure didn't break any 25's. Choked F/F so I alternated barrels to keep it from getting too hot. Folks said I was crazy to shoot such an old gun, but the old girl didn't seem to mind trap loads and it was a good time.
Turkey shoots are fun, I did not shoot my Elsie on that one, went with the Beretta Silver Pigeon, which I hate for only one stupid reason (the barrel selector) but otherwise I've started to do well with in the last year or so.
I still want a Browning for trap though, because I like the brand (and the barrel selector) and I'm not spending the money on something like a Krieghoff or Kolar on something that I'm competing in to win stuff like tee shirts, patches, and occasionally frozen meat. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Dec 13, 2021 6:07 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3375
Location: The Great Northwet
|
|
nj gsp wrote: |
Dave In Maine, those barrels are pure art!
I hauled my L.C. Smith Trap Grade out to the club last fall, and shot two rounds with it. I did OK with it, sure didn't break any 25's. Choked F/F so I alternated barrels to keep it from getting too hot. Folks said I was crazy to shoot such an old gun, but the old girl didn't seem to mind trap loads and it was a good time.
Turkey shoots are fun, I did not shoot my Elsie on that one, went with the Beretta Silver Pigeon, which I hate for only one stupid reason (the barrel selector) but otherwise I've started to do well with in the last year or so.
I still want a Browning for trap though, because I like the brand (and the barrel selector) and I'm not spending the money on something like a Krieghoff or Kolar on something that I'm competing in to win stuff like tee shirts, patches, and occasionally frozen meat.
|
True that.
|
_________________ Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com
The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Tue Dec 14, 2021 7:26 am
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Sep 2011
Posts: 572
Location: wheeling, wv
|
|
I didnt see where this has damascus barrels, I would imagine it is a Durstan Special which is a solid gun. I have a DS 20, and WyoChukar often posts about his DS 16 |
_________________ we salute you bird of thunder |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Dec 19, 2021 2:05 pm
|
|
|
Joined: 13 Jun 2009
Posts: 696
Location: WA/AK
|
|
Interesting to include pictures of a Baltimore Arms Co. gun in this Lefever thread. Lefever Arms Co. bought most of the pairs of tubes at the late 1904 receiver's sale of BAC. Both steel and Damascus. |
_________________ Share the knowledge |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Dec 20, 2021 2:53 am
|
|
|
Joined: 12 Sep 2010
Posts: 1975
Location: Maine
|
|
Researcher wrote: |
Interesting to include pictures of a Baltimore Arms Co. gun in this Lefever thread. Lefever Arms Co. bought most of the pairs of tubes at the late 1904 receiver's sale of BAC. Both steel and Damascus.
|
Interesting. I understood A.H. Fox himself bought a good deal of the machinery, which went over to outside Philly to establish The Sterlingworth Company, before it moved into town and renamed itself into the Fox many know and love. |
_________________ “A man’s rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.”
Frederick Douglass, November 15, 1867, speech in Williamsport, Pa. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT - 7 Hours |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|