Lefever Nitro Special

C

CajunBass

New member
Somebody brief me on a Lefever Nitro Special. Anybody know anything I haven't found out.

It's a 16 ga, with 28" barrels. The gun shop guy checked and said it had 2 3/4" chambers. I didn't check the chokes. Twin Triggers and extractors. The wood looked pretty decent, and it seemed to lock up tight. After a quick wipedown with an oiley rag that seemed to remove an inch of dust, and maybe fine rust, the metal looked a lot better. The stock may have been cut, there is a really nicely installed recoil pad, a "White Line" I believe was the brand name. The S/N is 2580X which a website I found indicates a manufacture date of 1928 (They were made by Ithaca? Didn't know that.) I gather the Nitro Special was the low price line?

It was tagged less than $200.00 so I put it on layaway while I do some research. I figure if I got through with it, the worst thing that I'll have will be a lamp pole. And I can cancel the layaway if I want.

I took a couple of pictures with my cell phone. They're not very good I'm afraid.

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IIRC, Ithaca introduced the low-priced "Lefever Nitro Special" about 1919, then in a stroke of good timing, Ithaca Gun Co. also introduced an even lower priced double, the Western Arms Long Range Double in 1929, - just in time for the Great Depression.
Just like they had done with Lefever Arms, Ithaca made it a separate corporation that operated within the Ithaca factory.

The big difference between the Western Arms Long Range Double and the Lefever Nitro Special was that the Western had a malleable iron frame while the Lefever Nitro Special had a forged steel frame.
Also, the Western had a somewhat plainer stock and forearm.

At some point in the mid-1930's Ithaca Gun Co. desolved the two separated corporations, and they became the Lefever Arms Branch and the Western Arms Branch (respectively) of the Ithaca Gun Co.


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Double check those chambers. I was in Gander (back when they had "gunsmiths"), and a gun clearly marked with '65' for chamber lengths was checked by the smith who dropped an unfired hull and said it was 2-3/4".

Lefever made what many consider the best of the American double guns

Either you are missing a digit from your serial number or something is awry as The Ithaca serial number history shows differently
 
Hard to tell, but is the butt stock a lot darker than the forearm? It appears that way, but that could just be the lighting. If it has, well, it IS old and was probably well-used during its heyday

You might want to check out these folks: Lefever Collector's
 
Lefever made what many consider the best of the American double guns.
Click to expand...

True, except that Lefever was long gone and the Lefever Nitro Special was just Ithaca using the name on an entry model of their own design.
 
I have one. also a 16 ga. inexpensive serviceable shotgun.

I believe the forend on yours is not original. it's a trap forend. the shotgun would have come with the splinter field stock..

for $200 nothings bad....
 
Double check those chambers. I was in Gander (back when they had "gunsmiths"), and a gun clearly marked with '65' for chamber lengths was checked by the smith who dropped an unfired hull and said it was 2-3/4".
Click to expand...

maybe clarify that an unfired 12 3/4 (which is 12 70) will fit a 12 65
 
Fair enough - I know what I was trying to say - just didn't come out of my fingers they way it came out of my thought process.....:D
 
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