Lefever Question
 

I saw a couple online and there was a letter after the serial numbers. One had H and the other DS. What is significance of the letters?? Thanks

Grades. DS is the Dursten Special which was a field offering. And the H was essentially a grade 1.

Thanks Brian. The H pics showed a fairly well used gun. The DS pics showed a better condition gun with a straight stock.

Also the H is a side lock and the DS is just a side plate.

Not correct.
They are all sideplate guns.

You likely are referring to the fact that an H grade would have cocking indicators and a DS would not. The internal mechanics are the same.

I believe the DS was only offered as a "half pistol grip"

they gave a lot of gun as a base grade - European walnut, same internals as Brian said- nice "modern" dimensions - my DS is a 16 on a 20 gauge frame - it handles nice

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...ictureid=13284

Stock in question

That gun has been restocked. Forend too. The comb style and shaping of the cheeks are not correct for the grade. Also, notice the high grade checkering. It appears to be done decently. But it is just one photo that is not all that clear.

I have seen legitimate DS grades with straight grips. But they are very rare.

If a guy wants originality then this DS is a pass. The H is a pass too as the barrels are said to be shortened to 24” leaving chokes of C and IC. The barrels are described as Damascus but they are actually twist steel. I don’t know Lefevers and I don’t really need to get to know them so why was I looking? Is Parkeritis subject to mutation? I think I know the answer based on other makes that found their way into my life. And to think it all started with a family VH in need of some TLC. :)

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...ictureid=13285

No letter after serial number. What grade then?