Dan Lefever was one of America's most accomplished firearms designer, perhaps second only to Sam Colt. He was a terrible businessman, evidenced by the number of failed Lefever partnerships.
There is no doubt we have a different perspective than they had back 120+ years ago, but it doesn't seem like the pride of the Parker's would have them offering up one of their guns for someone else to make claims of advancements in design. I would only be guessing, but it might seem more likely that the gun was supplied by someone else; perhaps a customer, who wanted it converted. I don't think anyone is claiming that the subject gun at Morphy's was a prototype.
In studying the pictures on the Morphy website, it appears that the Parker frame is unaltered, and perhaps can be converted back to a hammer gun simply by removing Lefever's lock, and re-installing hammer-gun firing pins. I think it is a beautiful piece of workmanship, and it seems to me the side cocking lever makes the gun that much quicker to reload and fire quickly. I think it's a fabulous opportunity for a collector. High grade Lefevers are perhaps the only American SxS that rivals a Parker of equal grade, for beauty, and design. A friend has an 1875 Nichols & Lefever push button opener that is as nice as any $250 Grade I have ever seen.
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