A Nice Lefever
 

A dear friend of mine sent me some photos of one of his prized Lefever possessions. This is a 16ga Optimus. Two of my favorite things about these early Lefevers is the carved arrow behind the lock plates and the incredible breech ball sculpting. This gun is signed by A.E. Spangler on the lock plates. This is a thing of beauty in my eyes.....

MAGNIFICENT!!!

That defiantly qualifies as functional art.

Couple of additional photos.....

The safety gives this gun away as a nice "early" top lever gun, maybe 10,000 range or earlier. The LACA Chronology lists my old #9568 E Grade as the earliest known top lever gun. It is also a 16 gauge. Josh's pictured Optimus is outstanding. Do we know the serial number?

a thing of beauty for sure...i always had a soft spot for lefevers...this is the best one i ve ever seen... charlie

Josh this is magnificent,thank you !!!

Exquisite.

The art of the checkering blows me away. Indescribable!

Very nice, Josh! I have had 4 Lefevers and regretted selling them:banghead:

Mark, you sold the long gun?

Perhaps this is a silly question as I know very little about Lafever guns but that looks more like a B-grade than an Optimus. The few Optimus I have seen in person have much more gold inlay.

Hard to 'read' the faded pattern Josh, but I believe it is 1st Quality Leclerc

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../377677975.jpg

I could probably tell for sure if you'd like to send a full size high resolution close up of the barrels to revdoc2@cox.net

Just a guess here, but given Josh's background in Lefevers I'd put my money on Josh's description of the gun.

The reason I ask is I had a conversation just yesterday about high grade Lafeveres and I was not aware that there were grades that were very similar. I actually copied and e-mailed one of the photos to my buddy and he said that was the finest Optimus he had ever seen.

It is an exquisite gun, elegant in every regard.

Jay, there is great variation in Lefever guns throughout their production period. Early guns don't have the level of engraving coverage as the later guns. For example, here is a later Optimus quality gun that I wrote an article in the DGJ about. Once owned by a GAH Winner. The 16g Optimus above is a 1888 vintage gun. The Optimus below is likely a 1903 vintage gun. I have seen a lot of Lefevers and both of these guns are easily amongst the better examples known to collectors....

Josh,

Thank you for explaing the differences. The 1903 gun is absolutly stunning. That may be the most beautiful firearm I have ever seen.

Jay

I'm drawn to the Lefever drilling in the James Julia auction, like a moth to a flame.

Josh,

My all-time favorite is that Optimus once owned by a west coast insurance magnate. I want to say ca. 1905??? Sucks the air from my lungs. Talking about catching "the fever!!" :bowdown:

Way out of my knowledge base re: early guns here but that is one beautiful turn of the century smoke pole.
A very special gun indeed!

So, Mark, you sold the 36" gun?

Incredible Optimus & in 16 Gauge!
 

All Optimus grades are IMO the best of their kind; and now this indescribable beauty in the very rare 16 gauge. Wow! I love the bolsters at the bottom of the breech area on these higher grade Lefevers. I am beyond green with envy!!!! Please, what are the specifics, barrel length, stock dimensions, weight, etc. I just want to drool some more, although I am already on my second bib! I Love Lefevers!
:bowdown: