doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gunfight Friday - Round #2

Larry, I know better than to argue with you and after all you do outrank The Major. I'd never get the last word anyhow.

However, you might remember that Nathaniel Peabody got the gun from his Uncle Calhoun. In two separate Galen Winter stories, including Uncle Calhoun in the title, the gun is described as a 1925 Lefever. Who ever heard of a Syracuse gun made that late?...Geo

I do not have an honest opinion since I only have one Fox and it is not a Sterlingworth compared to quite a few Ithaca shotguns and at least one in each gauge produced by Ithaca. I'm not as worried about my guns weight to the ounce as some of you seam to be, so I love my Ithaca shotguns and most of my shooting is done with NID's. The NID measurements work for me. If we can give any merit to how many were produced by each maker, which gives us a true reading of the shooters of that era, Ithaca wins over every other American double gun maker. This is the reason, in my opinion, why Ithaca's are not as high priced. I've considered buying different AH Fox shotguns and hope to buy a few more some day, but there prices just push me back to my dependable Ithaca shotguns.
Only my opinion,
Stan

"If we can give any merit to how many were produced by each maker, which gives us a true reading of the shooters of that era, Ithaca wins over every other American double gun maker."

Stan: could you please cite your source? I gave both of Walt's books to an interested med student. Does your Ithaca production include pumps and single barrels?

I'm going to start a separate thread with regarding production.

The only trouble with that is the Ithaca/Lefever A grade was made 1934-40.....the only "Lefever" being made in 25 was the Nitro Special.....

When I was reading those articles, I was thinking a higher grade Lefever was what the Major had in the leg-O-mutton, but, as I think about who the character was, that Galen Winter was painting for us, from where I sit today, it makes perfect sense that he would have shot a Nitro Special. That he got for free from a relative.

He wouldn't have bought a gun, if he could get one for free.


Best,
Ted

The NID is stouter but it is heavier and does not handle as good as the Fox. However, it can handle a wider range of shells and therefore a wider range of game. If I had only one gun, which I do, it would be the NID.

I'd guess Galen Winter didn't know that. There was a tribute to the Major in SS when the series ended and the author passed away shortly after that and there was an article about him. The disclosure about the "A" grade was made in one of those articles, I think...Geo

Gunut beat me to it on the years of production for the A Grade. One listed here, for sale, currently.

Larry, I knew that , Gunut knew that, and you knew that, but did Galen Winter know that? The question was whether the major's shotgun was a Syracuse Lefever or an Ithaca...Geo

Well, therein lies a dilemma. If it dates from 1925, it could not be a Syracuse Lefever, nor could it be an A Grade. I'd think, somewhere along the line, someone would have picked up on that and would have written a letter to Shooting Sportsman, which would have reached Galen Winter. But it might have been too late at that point for him to correct the mistake.

On the other hand . . . the late Geoffrey Boothroyd wrote a letter to Ian Fleming, pointing out various errors in James Bond's armament--including the fact that the .25 Beretta was a poor choice. At which point Fleming not only changed Bond's gun to a Walther PPK, but wrote "Major Boothroyd" into the book as the official armourer of the 00 Section.