doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Lefever Nitro Special Frame Size Question

Does anyone know if Ithaca used different frame sizes for the Nitro Special guns. Specifically, I am curious about the rear of the frames where the butt stock attaches.

I have a 16 ga. Nitro Special that is missing the butt stock, and I'd rather just buy and fit a take-off stock from another gun. I also see semi-finished stocks on e-bay, but never in 16 ga. It doesn't seem likely that Ithaca would have dedicated frame sizes for an inexpensive field grade double, but I don't have a 12 or 20 ga. Nitro to measure for comparison.

Keith,
My 20ga measures 1.392" at back of receiver.
Ed

they do have different frame sizes for each gauge.

they do have different frame sizes for each gauge.

i will measure a 20 i have in storage and post results here.

try boyd gunstocks for a 16 gauge semi inlet stock. and gun would look better with a new forend that matches the new stock.

From what I understand, the 16/20 guns used the same buttstock. 12g is larger.

Gunstocks Inc makes good semi-inlets for Nitro Specials.

The NS uses a cut down 20 gauge frame for their .410's. The width is the same but the height is less on the .410.

I was able to fit a 12 ga. NS stock to a 20 ga. Long Range. And that was before I had much experience with working with semi inlets. A 16 shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks very much to all for the information. This really helps a lot. I am kind of surprised that there seems to be 3 different frame sizes for the Nitro Special covering from .410 to 12 gauge.

A few years ago, I bought a Syracuse Lefever butt stock at a gun show and tried it on a small XX frame from a G grade 16 ga. gun. It fit as perfectly as one could expect from a factory made stock. Then I noticed that the serial number in the wood seemed vaguely familiar, and compared it to the frame and forearm of a 12 gauge DSE which I had bought at another gun show a couple months earlier and about 70 miles apart. The serial numbers were identical. I was very surprised to find that the rear of the frames of a standard weight Syracuse Lefever and the small XX frame were the same. The only differences were in the height and width of the breech, and in the width of the action bar. I keep hoping to find the matching barrels to reunite the whole gun which I learned had been separated and sold as parts when a gunsmith died about 10 years earlier. It was pretty amazing that the action, forearm, and butt stock all surfaced in the same year and that I found them, so miracles do happen.

Yes there is and the 16 gauges especially are sweet. If produced today a gun as good as the Nitro Special would cost in the thousands.