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.