doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Took the old Ithacas out for a few birds

Over on another board I had picked up an Ithaca Grade 3 Lewis last winter. It has been sleeved by LeFevere many years ago when the previous owner had one of the barrels fail on him. (BTW does anyone have any info about sleeving done by LeFevere?)

I have been busy at work trying to finish up jobs before our season ends due to snow and have not been out as much as usual lately. So two weeks ago my friend and I squeezed out for a \short hunt on my place. My friend brought over his Ithaca Flues so we could have a morning of hunting with the old guns. I shot 12ga 1oz loads from New Era and he shot 1oz loads from RST. I had never shot the gun other than running two shells through it this spring to see if the gun worked. It worked fine as I shot four times and had three birds in the bag. It was a heck of a morning watching my GWP and my EP work the birds very well. Here I am with my GWP, the birds and of course the guns. It sure is fun shooting the old guns!

Looks like you had a good time.......thanks for sharing, nice picture......


Best Regards,

Great to see the old Ithacas out doing whaqt they were meant to do!! Congrats on a great day.

What a great picture. Super. Those days are the best.

T

I own both a wonderful female Wirehair and a Lefever sleeved shotgun. Lefever did great work, but that was then. I don't believe the successors to Lefever still do it. I believe his name is Giacomo and is a Perazzi mechanic. My Lefever sleeve job is a DH Grade Parker ten gauge magnum, originally a heavy frame 12 gauge Damascus gun. It is a beautiful job. My little Wirehair turned six last Saturday and is a wonder dog in my opinion.

Well I was close Saturday when I used a Nitro Special to bag my Great White plus some nice fat ducks. Ben the vizsla retrieved all the ducks, but I didn't send him out for the swan as it was dead and lodged in a milfoil bed so I could pick it up later.

Chances are your Ithaca was sleeved by Bill Swarts, one of the gunsmiths at Lefever. Several years ago, when we were shooting sporting at Clinton Fish and Game Club, Bill showed up with his Perazzi, and attached was the worst looking set of barrels I have ever seen on a gun. There were blobs of solder all over both of the barrels and the rib, and the bluing mostly removed. I asked Bill what happened, and he said he had just sleeved that barrel set and wanted to make sure it shot where he wanted before he finished them. Bill is still alive and lives in Rome, NY. He no longer does any gunsmithing, but keeps older Winchester and Remington traps working at the area clubs. I don't know if any of the Lefevers, Bob or Frank are still living, but the only other gunsmith still alive that worked there is the infamous Andy Wojtovich of Andy's Custom Shop, in Utica, NY.

Hal,

Good work on the swan, I've always wanted to hunt them. Spent a week on Tangier Island trying to kill one years ago but never did connect. After that, I just can't seem to get around to making a trip.


Destry

What happened to the forend on that 10ga shown with the swan? Were you shooting the gun without one?

I know you've explained why you do it that way, but I can't get used to your pictures of that Nitro without the fore-end wood. By the way, is that snow on the Vizla's back or white spots?...Geo