Pete, what you described is correct if the choke reamer has an uniform taper of 10 thou per inch of run. A choking reamer could also be made up with several different tapers (though such a reamer would much be more difficult to grind). A choke can also be cut using multiple reamers, each with a different taper. All of these used by inserting the piloted push reamer(s) into the breech end of the barrel.

A tapered choke could be also cut from the muzzle end with one or more tapered DRAW reamers as I've seen done at a noted modern barrelsmith's shop. This setup is particularly useful for correcting an off-shooting barrel by offsetting the axis of the choke relative to the bore.

Net, full tapered shotgun chokes can have different profiles from leade-in to muzzle, and can be reamed in one or many passes and with one or more reamers.

I wonder what kind of tooling Lefever used in the 1890's for putting a tapered choke into a barrel. This bore is also very light for a ten, 8 lbs 2 oz with 30" barrels. I think it may have been ordered as an upland gun rather than a fowler and the chokes go with it's weight.

Frank I have a Remington 1900 12ga that is choked .014 and .024, it shoots, 72% and 86%. So I am curious to see what your new Lefever will do.

Beautiful gun, Frank. I'm kinda surprised that in all my years of buying, shooting, hunting, and collecting of side by side guns, the Lefever has alluded me. I've always heard, from those more knowledgeable than I, that the Lefever is/was the finest American made double. I don't know, and don't want to get in the weeds here, but I would love to spend some time with a specimen, and find out for myself.
BTW, good shooting, Frank! Wish we lived close enough to give you a challenge. I've got an underlifter (with Perazzi dimensions) that I occasionally shoot lights out with.

The 30" Lefever that Pete mentioned is truly light for a ten. However, my 28" 7 pound, 4 ounce ten probably sets the record for a light Lefever. It also has original fluid steel barrels, the only Lefever of that configuration to surface. Very high grade Lefevers with fluid steel are known, but only a very few. My 28" gun measures out a very common modified and full.

The more I study Lefevers, particularly the later "large single cocking hook" variation, the more I'm impressed with the design genius of Uncle Dan Lefever. Here's a scan showing features from the 1912-13 Lefever catalog.

One innovation I'll add to this list is the ejector design on guns so equipped. There are NO ejector parts in the forend. The frame mounted ejector mechanism consists of only two parts - no additional springs are used for the ejectors, and believe it or not each one is actuated by its respective mainspring (hammer spring). Yup, the mainsprings are V springs - same as my MX2000 Perazzi that finished 30,000 rounds a couple of years ago and with its V mainsprings as snappy as when made and never a breakage of either one. Lefever wrote that it took particular pains in making theirs.

Cold Spring,

Your comments on Lefever frame ejectors are spot on. They are very robust and reliable, in large part because they have few parts, and because forend ejector parts can only be made so stout.

This was Dan's final ejector design, which emerged in 1895 and was on all ejector guns from then until the end of the company 2 decades later. So, we're talking roughly the 23k serial range all the way until the end in the 73k range.

The first 2 patents Dan had on ejectors were from 1892 and 1894, and both were forend ejector designs. Both are quite rare, the 2nd being more so, because they incorporated a feature allowing the owner to turn the ejectors "on and off" by way of turning two screws on the end of the forearm.

In addition to these two patented forearm mechanisms, collectors have noted one or two other variations which appear experimental in nature...all in the 17k range, if memory serves.

While the forend ejector guns are very rare and collectible, the frame ejector mechanism is a far better design...hence its use for most of the company's life.

Among American gun makers, only John Browning has more patents than Dan Lefever. I think his failure as a business man, coupled with Ithaca's late acquisition of Lefever Arms, and subsequent pimping of the name on guns of their own design, have served to obfuscate history somewhat.

In my opinion, Parker, Smith and several others made wonderful guns. But in terms of design, fit and finish, Dan Lefever's best are in a league of their own. There are some Special Order Lefever's in the 16k-21k serial range which exceed Optimus grades in their opulence.

In their day they really were as good as ANY gun made in the world...including Purdey, Boss, etc.

Its a shame we dont have more of them.

NDG