Keith: on the subject of "small shop" guns, would the early Lefevers qualify?
The production numbers would clearly have you think that.
None of Dan Lefever's gun companies or partnerships had high production numbers. Some were very small, such as the roughly 1200 D.M. Lefever crossbolt guns produced in three cities.
The sideplate Syracuse Lefevers are interesting to me because Dan was always making changes to the design. They are not "cookies cutter" guns in the sense of most other vintage doubles. We often see barrels or components from higher grade guns on lower grade models. I think that may stem from doing whatever it took to fill an order when certain parts were in short supply. But it seems the parts substitutions were always an upgrade... never a downgrade.No doubt many differences were due to specific requests from customers. Some guns have no grade stamp, and are Special Order Guns. At the same time, we see blocks of guns of the same gauge or grade being produced, likely to be sold through retailers.
Ive said it almost seems like they were a semi-custom gunmaker, compared to most. That business model may have contributed to their demise. The many changes, differences, and low numbers can often make it challenging to find spare parts. But i'm still finding things that even the Lefever "experts" and long-time advanced collectors have never seen or noticed.
I really need to take the time to take pictures and start a new Thread on one I bought last year. It is the most unusual Lefever I've seen in 35 years of studying and collecting them.
