Gun Dog Forum

Do you gentlemen know anything about Lefever side by sides? I ran across a 16 gauge (Nitro Special) at one of the local pawn shops. I talked them down to $375, including tax. It seems to be identical to the gun below. It's in good shape. I've been wanting a SxS but haven't bought one yet and it's been on the back burner after buying a house, having a baby and putting a girlfriend through grad school. I thought this might be a nice way to see if I even like SxS's before spending a lot more $ on one. Thoughts?


http://www.doubleshotguns.com/used-shot ... -side.html

It is a Lefever as a brand name only...it is not the true Lefever.
Basically it is an entry level Ithaca, earlier than the NID(I think).
In good shape and loaded properly, it will go boom just fine as any of the old entry guns will.

Find the age, have it vetted by an actual double gun smith and especially look at barrels, lock up and chamber length.
You probably got what you paid for.

Mountaineer wrote:It is a Lefever as a brand name only...it is not the true Lefever.
Basically it is an entry level Ithaca, earlier than the NID(I think).
In good shape and loaded properly, it will go boom just fine as any of the old entry guns will.

Find the age, have it vetted by an actual double gun smith and especially look at barrels, lock up and chamber length.
You probably got what you paid for.

Thanks for the info. I haven't bought it yet.

That scattergun might fit your needs quite fine....I dunno.
But, I would not let that Nitro Special be an indicator of SxSs and whether or not you will like them....there are worlds of difference twixt entry and better.....not best, simply better.
Good luck, regardless.

A SxS is only as good as it fits you.

Example: On a neutral cast I will be looking down the left barrel.

Try mounting the SxS with your eyes closed, then open them and see where you are really looking.

I now have a SxS that was fitted to me and I can really knock down the birds with it.

Shotguns....it's all in the Fit. That is why most modern auto-loaders and pumps come with shim kits to adjust the stocks.

Ever heard someone say, "It was a really nice shotgun, but I couldn't hit anything with it" It's all in the fit............................

Many of the older american SxSs had a lot of stock drop.....that can be a problem but "fit" is not all that.

We often fit to a scattergun well enough.....same way folks did in the past before message boards.
I was "fit" with an LOP(as but one parameter measure) of a hair over 16"...I do just fine with an often standard 14 1/8"...if a scorecard is involved that can skew the importance a bit....in the field, the other factors of making a shot or not is most often based in the decision to shoot...or not.
Fit...is overrated....important and all that but.....overrated when one begins to worry too much or reckon that is why one misses.

See if you like the scattergun...liking a gun goes a long way to shooting it well....even past that first go-round when a new-to-us scattergun seems to be a magic wand.
Again, good luck.