Are these Lefever rifle barrels? When I purchased these last weekend I was told by the seller that these old barrels were stored in a wet basement for many years. The outside showed long-term oxidation with some pitting, so they will now require restoration. Fortunately, the bores must have been heavily oiled because they cleaned out very nicely. The barrel set has now been stripped for refinishing and was “smoked” for providing smoke pulls. So the black marks and most of the roughness, seen in these links to the 3 photos, is smoke residue. The top barrel rib has no Makers marks. The flat on the forward barrel lump is stamped with a circle containing the following text "USA" over "Nov 1 1870" over "Patent". Measuring very roughly with a mechanical caliper the rifled bore is about .400-.410 inch and the chamber is about .500-.510 inch. The right barrel flat is stamped with the following: “Charge 4 Drm 1 ¼ Shot” and with the following 4 London Proof Marks reading downward from the top: Crown over CP; sideways “W” or sideways “17” (this stamped mark is very unclear on both flats); Crown over V; Lion over winged g. The left barrel flat is stamped with the following: “Premier Gun”, together with the same British Proof Marks that are stamped on the right flat. The 4 digit serial number “5 7 6 4” is stamped on the bottom of both barrels, just forward of the barrel flats. It is my understanding that Lefever did make some Double Rifles in the late 1800s. Are there any serial number records of Lefever guns made during the late 1800s? Thank you and I look forward to your reply. The following link will take you to the 3 photos. Best Regards, R Wesley.
Last edited by Dave Weber; 11/12/08 10:33 PM.
