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UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 1:39 pm  Reply with quote
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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? Very Happy


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Dave in Maine
PostPosted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 6:03 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 12 Sep 2010
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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?

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UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 8:39 pm  Reply with quote
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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

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UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 7:28 am  Reply with quote
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Here pics of Dave's Baltimore with its beautiful damascus and thick barrels:






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kgb
PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:02 pm  Reply with quote
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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.

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Dave in Maine
PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 1:27 am  Reply with quote



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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.

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UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 5:04 pm  Reply with quote
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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. Cool


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fin2feather
PostPosted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:31 pm  Reply with quote
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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. 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 Very Happy .

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nj gsp
PostPosted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:42 pm  Reply with quote



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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.
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UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2021 6:07 pm  Reply with quote
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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.
Wink

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3birddogs
PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 7:26 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 07 Sep 2011
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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

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Researcher
PostPosted: Sun Dec 19, 2021 2:05 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 13 Jun 2009
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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.

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Dave in Maine
PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2021 2:53 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 12 Sep 2010
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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.

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