Bring Me To Life!

[Ken Snyder]

Time to recognize someone that I hold in extraordinarily high esteem and deserves recognition for his masterful skill and keen eye for even the smallest detail.

I was fortunate to become the caretaker of a wonderful gun, a piece of history and art. It wasn't without faults, which from my perspective became opportunity. I was even more fortunate to have my friend help me bring this gun to its former grandeur. This was a long and winding road so to speak. From the very first moments as we created a plan and selected the perfect blank this has been a wonderful adventure. I will document the process detailing the gun as we received it and the journey we undertook together to bring it to life once again. Some sneak peek pics here but the entire process will be documented in the Lefever Arms Collectors Association Newsletter over several issues throughout 2020.

Thank you, Brian. I will always be grateful to you for your incredible ability and patience. You confirmed that I made the right decision every single time you touched that gun. I never thought I'd own anything so beautiful.

[Dean Romig]

I’m impressed.







.

[Ken Snyder]

Some additional pics

[Chuck Bishop]

Stunning!

[Bill Jolliff]

Oh my gosh!

Optimus indeed.

Fantastic job you two.

[Nick de Guerre]

Wow! A stunner.

Uncle Dan would definitely have offered him employment.

NDG

[Eric Eis]

Beautiful gun, and well done.

[Frank Cronin]

Work of art! Congrats Ken!

[Daryl Corona]

That is just spectacular Ken, just spectacular.:bowdown: Can't wait for the rest of the story. Could you please post more pics of the receiver and sideplates? That wood is to die for. Nice job.

[Randy G Roberts]

Very nice !

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Is that the new LACA raffle gun?--JUST KIDDING!!!
Beautiful.

[charlie cleveland]

one of the best...what grade of gun is this...charlie

[Jay Gardner]

Lefever made some beautifully crafted guns but they seem to be under appreciated as compared to Parker, Fox, and Smith guns. Why is that?

[Rick Losey]

Lefever made some beautifully crafted guns but they seem to be under appreciated as compared to Parker, Fox, and Smith guns. Why is that?

my opinion is

one, that there are far fewer of them

and there are so many variations, the design, even within a model was often being changed, and then there were several changes to the ownership of the company (even though Fox, Parker and Smith changed ownership, the designs remained relatively unchanged)

Uncle Dan Lefever was a brilliant gun designer, but like so many, a terrible business man. every time he restarted the design changed (maybe because the patents went with the company)

it has been said that Lefever was not as interested in competing against the other American makers as much as he was in the English imports

[Pete Lester]

That's absolutely stunning! Details please, gauge, weight, barrel length etc. I hope to see this gun at Hausman's this year.

[Tom Wyraz]

There, ladies & gentleman is a WOW!!!! Fantastic work!!!

[Ken Snyder]

I'm sorry for the delay responding, work is always getting in the way!

So many wonderful comments, thank you to everyone!

Harold, we might have to sell just a few more tickets than normal to cover this one! :)

To answer a few of the questions and add a little more info:

This 10 ga Lefever Optimus was made around 1891. It had a pretty hard life as very early on its original stock was broken clean through the wrist and we speculate it was sent to Ithaca Gun Co. for restock. I have a photo of it when it surfaced wearing that stock. It was inletted well but the wood selection looked appropriate for a field grade gun with a checkering pattern to match. The lower portion of the trigger tang that extended to the grip cap was sadly discarded. It was re-stocked again but in a style that suited a much later gun lacking many of the attributes we associate with the early examples. When I was fortunate to become a caretaker I decided to try to get it right this time so Brian and I made a plan... I can't tell you exactly how many hours of research were involved in all the little details but suffice to say there were many! This is the fourth stock and hopefully the last it will ever need.

I think now that this long process has come full circle we have something that we can be proud of and that might have been possible to order from Uncle Dan in 1891!


Please come see us at the Southern, The Lefever Arms Collectors Association will have our display set up (normally in the main tent) and we plan to bring several wonderful examples for all to see. It's entirely possible you might even see this one ;-)

Here Brian is working on cutting in layout lines for checkering after he shaped the nose of the comb.

[Joe Graziano]

That is a masterpiece. Congratulations on your gun. Brian, you are one incredibly talented gunsmith!

[Shawn Wayment]

WoW!

[Brian Dudley]

Thank you for the kind words Ken. It was my pleasure to work on the gun and to make it right. It has been in a sad state for far too long. And I am glad you made the commitment to make the gun right.

I pride myself in trying to be as historically accurate in any of the work that I do on these fine guns. And with so much missing on this gun, along with the fact that nearly each and every early Optimus is different, it left an uphill battle at times to try and make sure that we were making the right choices. And IF a decision had to come down to personal aesthetics, we made darn sure that the result was something that could have come out of Uncle Dan's factory in the early 1890s.

[Pete Lester]

Thank you for the kind words Ken. It was my pleasure to work on the gun and to make it right. It has been in a sad state for far too long. And I am glad you made commitment to make the gun right.

I pride myself in trying to be as historically accurate in any of the work that I do on these fine guns. And with so much missing on this gun, along with the fact that nearly each and every early Optimus is different, it left an uphill battle at times to try and make sure that we were making the right choices. And IF a decision had to come down to personal aesthetics, we made darn sure that the result was something that could have come out of Uncle Dan's factory in the early 1890s.

Both you and Ken have a lot to be proud of with this beautiful Lefever shotgun.

[Craig Larter]

I handled this beautiful Lefever today at Brian's shop. It is beyond the beyond. Ken and Brian did an outstanding job in every little and I mean every little detail from concept to execution. The craftsmanship is the best I have seen and the design of the checkering and trigger guard ( piece of art in it's own right) is true to form of a high grade Lefever. Great job and a beautiful piece of gun art from two youngsters in our world of gun collecting.

[chris dawe]

Fine job !

[Mike Koneski]

Beautiful gun Ken!! It truly is a top of the line creation. Brian did beautiful work bringing her back to life. Can’t wait to see it at the Southern. 😁👍🏆

[Merv Boyd]

At a loss for words! Just brilliant!

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

What a gun! beautiful in every detail, Gary