Sixteen gauge Lefevers are hard to find. Real hard. All together, the Lefever Arms Co. made fewer than 7500 of them (Fox made 30,000+ double barrel shotguns in 16 gauge, Parker and L.C. Smith cranked out far more).
So I get excited when I see a 16 gauge Lefever like this one. At first glance, all that color and original finish gets my heart is racing. But then I take a closer look and my enthusiasm fades…
The problem is the stock. And the price. While the rest of the gun is original and least 100 years old, that butt stock is pretty darn new. The gun has been restocked, and while this isn’t a tragedy (the wood is nice, and the dimsnions are a shootable 14” x 1 5/8” x 2 ½”), it does kill the collectibility of the gun.
If the asking price was right, I would still like the gun. But at $7,300, I’m just not interested. That much would be OK if the stock was original. But since it’s not, the asking price is just too much.