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Gentlemen; I am looking a for a gunsmith to refurbish my Grandfather DM Lefever 12 gauge it is pushing 100 years old. The barrels are marked "fluid steel Krupp Essen". Would any of you be able to make a recommendation? Thanks GRF

GRF;
That is a bit of a tough one isn't it?

Are you looking for someone to reblue it as well as refinish the stock?

I'd think you'll need to find someone who does rust bluing so as not to damage the barrel solder, but I might be incorrect there? There aren't many of us who rust blue around and I generally don't do it for firearms that we don't own - simply because of the time involved in the job.

If you aren't a member of canadiangunnutz already, you may want to check in there as they have a pretty extensive Canada wide network of folks there.

Sorry I can't be of more assistance right now, but if I think of anyone I'll let you know.

Good luck with your restoration project, it does sound like a worthy one. All the best to you this week GRF.

Regards,
Dwayne

Dwayne; I believe that you are correct regarding the rust blue. I will check out canadiangunnutz thanks for the response. GRF

You need to talk to David Henry up in Bentley at D. Henry Gunmakers. Phone 403 - 748 - 3030. He will likely only answer on Wednesdays. He is very busy and that is his "phone day". He is your shotgun man.

GRF;
You are most welcome sir, I hope you can find someone to do the project.

On the rust bluing thing I should have explained a bit further perhaps.

Off the top of my head, depending on how long it takes to strip the existing finish, I'd think that one would easily need to do 8-10 rust/buff/boil cycles before the desired finish is accomplished.

Again, depending on the action and how easy it is to buff, it can be up to an hour a cycle and as I've diluted my solution to give me the desired amount of oxidization in 24 hours, that means playing with it for an hour a day for 8-10 days.

Depending on what one needs for their time, the rust bluing can end up being worth quite a bit more than most folks are willing to part with.

Now there may be faster ways to do it, but that's how I was taught and though I've done a few now, I don't seem to be all that much faster than when I started out playing with it about 2 decades back.

Hopefully the chap that bedrock has recommended can help you out.

If you are so inclined, I'd love to see some before and after photos of the project.

All the best to you in the remainder of the week and on the long weekend as well.

Regards,
Dwayne

Bedrock, thanks for the heads up, I will try to call Wednesday this week.

Dwayne, thanks for the education in rust bluing. I knew it was time consuming, now i know why.

We will have a good long weekend, it is my wife's family reunion and I have been able to organise some clay shooting and will be able to introduce some new shooters to the game.

Please see below for pictures as the gun is now.



Butt stock replaced many years ago toe broken off and crudely expoxied on (by me in a rush. )Almost all of the bluing on the barrels is gone.





The cross bolt in what I believe is the Greener style.


The under lug and large screw for tightening the action. The barrels are marked "Fluid Steel Krupp Essen"

[img]http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd426/georgeclaire/DM%20LeFever/IMG_5221.jpg[/img]

If you can read it the D.M. Lefever Patd 1902
[img]http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd426/georgeclaire/DM%20LeFever/IMG_5218.jpg[/img]

Thanks for all the help gentlemen. Any other thoughts or comments will be appreciated. Thanks GRF

GRF;
Thanks for the photos, I appreciate you taking the time.

I am remiss in not mentioning earlier how cool it is that you have a tangible link to your past. I am not a little envious of you in that regard.

My own grandfathers sold off everything when they moved off of their respective Saskatchewan farm and southern Alberta ranch, so everything that I'd love to have, the branding irons, the range saddles, the rifles, the shotguns...were all sold off. If the farm auctions I attended as a kid in the '60's and early '70's are any indication, they didn't get rich selling that type of hardware either.

I had a LeFever go through my hands a decade or so back that was a 16 gauge, but so help me I can't remember much else about it. It was, I recall thinking at the time, a better locking system than the old Stevens hammer double from the '20's that I had for awhile.

You may have mentioned and I missed it, but are the barrels still fairly tight on the action when it's closed?

I mention that because if there needs to be a major overhaul there, as well as the rebluing and stock work, the total cost of the project might exceed what you'd feel comfortable investing in it is all.

Anyway, though I've played with a couple shotguns over the years, doubles in particular are - to my way of thinking anyway - best left to those who've done one or three before.

As a final thought, if it was mine and I'd decided that I wanted a family heirloom restored - cost being a secondary issue type of scenario - then I believe I'd want to look at a few samples of completed restorations by the craftsman in question.

If they proved to be shy about providing references and/or examples, then perhaps I'd be inclined to look elsewhere before trusting them with an heirloom and my hard earned money?

Again thanks for the photos, good luck with the worthy project and here's wishing a grand long weekend at the family reunion for you and yours.

Regards,
Dwayne

Dwayne; The shotgun was with my mother's cousin for several decades and neglected the whole time. It took a far bit of work to get my hands on it. Some non-shooting members of the family seemed to think the shotgun had great financial value. I am very glad to have it. It has shot a few rounds of sporting clays and shot a few ruffed grouse since I have owned it. I would like to shoot a few ducks with the Kent tungsten matrix loads sometime in the future.

The barrels lock up real tight,however there is some pitting just forward of the chambers, the extractor / ejectors need some love and the action could likely use a tune. The main issue is the metal finish and the need to replace the butt stock and replace or refurbish the fore stock.

I am expecting to pay far more than the gun is worth to get it "up to snuff"; as all of my 3 children shoot and appreciate guns I know this will have a home with the 4th generation.

What kind of gun-smithing (I am assuming from your comments on this post and others that you are a "smith") do you usually do?

Thanks again and enjoy your August "long". GRF

GRF;
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. Again, I think it's cool that such a tangible link to your past - shooting past no less!- is in good hands.

My apologies sir for not being more clear on the fact that I'm not a trained smith. I'm only an ex-farmer who does a fair bit of millwright work in the cabinet shop I work at and have been a serious student of and tinkerer with all manner of firearms for most of my life.

Somehow, whether it's a curse or blessing remains to be determined, but mechanical things and firearms in particular have always "made sense" to me and I've always enjoyed repairing and modifying them.

Most of the firearm work originally was for our own family and it's slowly branched into doing it sometimes either for friends or friends of friends who need a hand getting a gun running again or wanting a bedding job done or recoil pad installed. Over the years I've done a little stock making and modifying and a fair bit of epoxy bedding and the like, but again, it's just a side hobby of mine.

Hopefully that makes sense and again, I apologize for not being more clear on that point initially.

All the best to you folks on the long weekend.

Regards,
Dwayne

Dwayne; no worries it was just me jumping to conclusions. I have seen a lot of very good gun-smithing done hobbyists. In many cases I have seen and done myself better bedding jobs than ones I have seen done by professional smiths.

all the best sir and I will keep you appraised on the Lefever. Thanks again for your interest and advice. GRF

Check with Bill Simmen, in Vanderbilt PA., Bill is a American Custom Gun Maker certified gun maker, etc. so makes stocks, etc, as well as all kinds (like rebluing this shotgun), etc., work. His phone number is 1-724-590-7240 He says he does work at a reasonable, as possible, rate, which I can attest to. Give him a holler.. you can send the shotgun directly to him, and since he'd be working on it, can send it directly back to you with no gun dealer involved..

ghost,

The original poster is in Canada and I'll bet he would like to avoid the hassles of shipping a gun back and forth across the border.

The location of a poster is easy to miss unless you look for it -- BTDT!

John

Didn't realize that..perhaps overlooked it.

ghost;
Thanks for the suggestion though, I'm sure the OP would appreciate it and there was I'm certain in saying, no harm and no foul in your suggestion.

In another time we surely could have used it. I fondly remember the times when we'd just declare whatever we were dragging down to the crusty smith down in Tonasket, WA and it was met with a friendly wave.

All the best to you and yours in the upcoming week ghost and thanks again for the suggestion.

Regards,
Dwayne

Ghost thanks for the input; I would very much like to avoid the cross border issues.

I tried to call David Henry; his is out of service. I will continue my search for a smith. I will let y'all know how it turns out. Thanks GRF

This guy can fix you up with top quality work!
Cat
http://scgunworks.ca/Credo%20Page.htm

Catnthehat; thank very much for the advice and the link. GRF

I didn't know SCGunworks had a website.

They have a good reputation among trap and skeet shooters in Ontario where I used to live (and still visit).

Anyway, Catnthehat would not steer you wrong!

John

I originally met Stelios when he joined our gun club. At one time I had work done on a Browning shotgun by Peter Venet. While I was in the shop about the shotgun work I saw a rifle Stelios was custom building for an African trip. From what I know of these two gentlemen their work can be recommended.

Jim

Thanks for all the opinions. I will be emailing pictures and questions off to SCGunworks shortly. Thanks GRF