Lefever sxs sidelock,grade g damascus 32" barrels hammerless

[Jack Kuzepski]

Gents,

You may want to try www.lefeverforum.informe.com and post your questions and pics there as a number of Lefever afficionados are found there way more qualified than me. The I grade is really the same as the DS grade or Durston Special (which is different than a D grade). The DS grade was available in 12, 16 or 20 ga and available with ejectors as well. The I grade was SUPPOSSED to be available in 12 ga only and without ejectors. However, I "think" I remember one in 16 ga and had heard of 1 or 2 in 12 ga having ejectors. Neither the DS or I grade had anything but steel barrels, no dolls head extension or cocking indicators. However in gun collecting, one learns never to say never.

Jack Kuzepski

[B. Dudley]

Actually the DS was the bottom of the Lefever grade scale. The DS was pretty much identical to the I grade in most ways. I believe the only real difference was that one could get an I grade with a pistol grip stock.

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

I own a DS with a pistol grip stock.

[Rodney Short]

well the lefever will be here tomorrow according to canada post , will be test firing it tomorrow, i will be most upset if it goes KABLOOIE, lol , i doubt that will happen, of course i will look it over before any shooting happens, now here is something to think on, i have 2 boxes of smokeless 2 1/2" shells one box of lylevale expess from birmingham england, 1 1/16oz #7 shot, super field loads, also a box of gambore fibre wad load, 1oz #6 traditional upland loads, now on these boxes it says for use in guns proved to 3 tons? any idea what that equals in PSI? ive used these in my husqvarna underlever sxs 12g and my other sxs guns with fluid barrels, they are great shells, i get them for 14$ a box from a local shop, wonder if they would suffice to be used in the damascus lefever, or would the gang here say stick to black powder loads, which i have a plentiful supply of?

[B. Dudley]

Originally Posted by Mark Ouellette

I own a DS with a pistol grip stock.

A full pistol grip or a round knob grip?

[Rodney Short]

well gents, my lefever arrived, im very pleased, a G grade sxs 12 with fine damascus of 3 or 4 irons, horsehoe pattern, no here are some interesting features, maybe someone can shed some light on, the barrels bear the same 44061 serial# as reciever, and forend, reciever is stamped G, However, the bottom of the barrels is 44061, followed by an F?? chambers are 3" they have not been altered, they are factory, had a reputable smith examine it, barrels on muzzle ends are nearly 1/8" thick? could this have been a specially ordered gun, ? barrels are 32" long, i have pics of it, im unsure how to post pics, its choked extremely tight on both barrels, down to near 16 gauge diameter, there are no other marks under the barrels except the serial and the F, the F is separate from serial, i do have clear pics of it, also i thought the butt pad wasnt orig, it is, its a jostam anti flinch recoil pad, which was offered by lefever /ithaca on lower to mid grade guns of the time

[Rodney Short]

http://sn116w.snt116.mail.live.com/mail/#

[Bruce Day]

Rodney, your hotmail account cannot be accessed by others.

From your description of your Lefever, I believe your gun is set up as a fowler with the heavy, long barrels and super tight chokes. I don't know whether it was specially ordered. Not all Lefevers are built this way, some are lighter for an all rounder. My guess is that you have an over 8 pound gun whereas the 30" lighter 12's often weigh 7/3 to 7/8, and some with shorter barrels are lighter still, as explained in the Elliott book.

[Rodney Short]

my gun weighs 9.5 lbs

muzzle thickness is ,109 thou, id say its special

the pics i have were from hotmail, a membner told me to put them on desktop and add them to the thread, i did that, and thats what happened, i know people cant acess it, if u want pics, or anyone does provide an email id be happy to forward some

i looked at over 100 grade g guns, not one had fine damascus barrels, or anything close to this thick in muzzles
i was told this was a g grade gun, with f grade barrels ordered to fit from factory, by a collector from upstate new york
he said it was common for wealthy people to have a set of lighter barrels for upland birds, and heavy barrels for geese and waterfowl, for heavy loads, the serial on my receiver is same on barrels however reciever is marked with a G, barrels are marked with an F, i was told it is very uncommon to find any proofs or marks on american damascus guns of any make so he told me the F was in same style of stamp as the G that this was the case, it also has 3" chambers, which are original and not altered , i had a smith confirm this

[Rodney Short]

Bruce, if you have an email, i would send some pics to you of the gun, also was just given a piece of cape buffalo horn, cut in a rectangular blank, nice black/charcoal hue to it, will make a fine replacement butplate!, but let me know on the email adress, mine is coltkid_93@hotmail.com,