Suddenly the 6.5 is “new” and hot. There’s the 6.5 Creedmoor, the
6.5 Grendel, the .260 Remington, the 6.5-284 Norma, the 6.5×47 Lapua
and even the . 264 Win Mag and 6.5 Remington Mag are staging a
resurgence. How long can it it be before a new WSSM or RUSM jumps
into the mix.

It’s as if the.264 calibre has been newly discovered and suddenly it
is the answer to many and varied problems, from military
effectiveness, to precise high power target competition, to light
recoiling effective hunting rifles. Strange, I thought the 6.5 had
been around since the 1890’s, proving itself for the militaries of
the Romanians, the Dutch , the Scandinavians, the Italians, the
Greeks, the Japanese, the Portuguese, the Uruguayans ,etc, etc, etc.

And then, there are my two favorite sporting 6.5’s; the .256
Mannlicher and the .256 Newton, both somewhat lost in obscurity, and
yet they did everything the newer fodder can do (if not more).
(And yes, I do realize the 6.5×54 Greek Mannlicher-Schoenauer and the
6.5×53R Dutch are indeed the roughly one and the same as the Briitsh
designated round.)
The litte Mannlicher has had a storied past (as recorded by numerous
authors)and yet Norma has now ceased production of the loaded round
(still making the brass though ,thank God).
My prized possesion is a Von Hoffe prototype, that proudly wears the
silver images of the game it has taken on its stock , placed there
by its Jaegermeister ; now 106 years later continues to put 160
grains of of superbly penetrating projectiles into MOA groups.

The Newton came to life in 1913 the progeny of Charles Newton of
250-3000(Savage) fame and slipped largely into oblivion about 1938.
Basically a 6.5-06 and having been called “the Thinking Man’s .270″ ,
it none-the-less succumbed to the Winchester brand name, Jack O’
Connor’s prolific .270 praise and catastrophic management of Newton
Arms. (Not to mention poor powder choice and availability, as well as
bullet construction technology of the day.) My 90+ year old
example ,however, never fails to esthetically please or perform
quite practically.

Funny isn’t it, how everything old is new again?

Lefever

American Firearms Best Bet

I’ve been collecting and hunting with American made shotguns for quite a while now.  It would be safe to say that I own my fair share of some fine specimens from each of the major American shotgun manufacturers and in doing so I’ve had the chance to study each in detail.

The following is a list of many of America’s most collected shotguns which you can put in any order you like, since as is natural, we all have our opinions.  Parker, A.H. Fox, L.C. Smith, Winchester, Lefever, Ithaca, Remington, Baker, and as of late Connecticut Shotgun Mfg.  As long as I’m listing we should even toss in Browning as it is considered an American classic regardless of where it was made.  No doubt that Parker holds the medal for becoming the most collected, highest priced, and readily available gun of the group.  After that it’s a crap shoot but what amazes me is that Lefever doesn’t stand as the top dog on the list in every respect.  Why?

Ask yourself when the last time you laid your eyes on a 90% mint Lefever at a gun show? Ask again if you have ever had the pleasure of seeing an Uncle Dan box lock variation, or the near impossible to find Lefever drilling or double rifle.  That’s right!  A double rifle and drilling made by an American gun manufacturer.  You know the one, Lefever, as in Daniel Myron Lefever the inventor of the hammerless shotgun.   To find a Lefever of any grade in excellent condition is exceptionally difficult and I am not talking about the gun known as the “Nitro Special”.  A majority of the best condition Lefevers belong in private collections and scarcely are they sold much less make their way into the public’s eye. Also consider that Lefever side lock guns numbered in the thousands and not tens of thousands.  The Lefever cross bolt model is even scarcer having only been manufactured over a period of four years with numbers under two thousand!  Compare these numbers with the huge production figures from the other top American shotgun makers and you see right there why Lefevers are relatively hard to find.

Few will argue that the three rarest American shotguns were made by Lefever.  The first is the “Thousand Dollar” grade, a side lock gun.  Only one is known to have ever been made, and it was named as such because it indeed costs $1000 dollars in 1896!  The other two are both cross bolt guns made by Dan Lefever and Sons.  These two guns are aptly named “Uncle Dan” grades.  The Uncle Dan grade was the highest grade available and only two have ever surfaced in the past 100 years.  I would quickly put these guns in front of the Parker Invincibles, Fox F grade, Ithaca Sousa grade, L.C. Smith Deluxe and so on.  Pick up my dear friend Bob Elliott’s book, “Lefever, Guns of Lasting Fame”, and compare the details of fit, finish, engraving, and so on to other makers.  I assure you that it will give great insight to these guns.

No doubt what so ever that Lefever guns are the most undervalued American shotgun today!  Our friends at Blue Book of Gun Values do try hard to keep up the pricing but let’s take a look at something.  The Thousand Dollar grade last sold for over $200,000 USD and the Uncle Dan Grades sold for near the same amount!  Take a look at the price of an Optimus Grade compared to it’s across board rival the Parker A1 Special.  Many A1 Specials are being sold at over $100,000 USD while the Optimus Grade hits the top at $85,000.  I assure you, owning many A1 Specials, that the Optimus is by far the finer gun.  What about comparing a Fox Sterlingworth with it’s across board equal the Lefever DS grade.  A Very Good to Excellent Sterlingworth currently can run as high as $4,000 USD while the Lefever DS in the same condition will costs half that.  Again, my favorite dove gun is a Sterlingworth but compared to the DS it pales. 

Lefever pricing is without a doubt the most outdated of all American shotguns and currently these guns are going for a fraction of their true value.  You will be hard pressed to ever find an equal gun in grade to the make of a Lefever and they shoot like a dream.  Scarcity alone makes these guns unique but even found with a quality refinish they are not to be passed up.  I have seen many a well used Lefever put back to original by some very competent gunsmiths but beware and do your homework before letting just anyone touch your gun.  Also, be cautious as Lefever guns have been faked, upgraded etc. by hacks wanting to pass them off as high grade original.  As a matter of fact it was not too long ago that a fake Thousand Dollar grade came onto the market while trying to be passed off as the original.  If not for the REAL Thousand Dollar grades owner checking this then the fake may have robbed some poor soul of their money. 

I’m partial to American Shotguns in general, each one has its own great qualities but my humble opinion is that Lefever is the finest made American shotgun in history.  Do your homework, check The Lefever Forum on the internet for advice and get a hold of Robert Elliott’s book for the most detailed information ever put together on this Master Gunmaker.

The local news here in dallas ran a story this morning, centered on the fact that pawn shop business is up over 60% since this time last year… what does this mean to the gun business? guys in the industry better pay less and charge less. most of the good stuff that comes into a pawn shop these days is listed on the internet in a flash…literally, almost to the minute that it “comes out”. most of the really good guns go to regular dealers on that pawn shop’s circuit… that is why most of what you see in a pawn shop, as far as guns, is crap. occaisionally, good guns get out to the front. be on the lookout. if you are attempting to buy one of these guns, remember that most of these had 30% of the posted value loaned on… dicker, beg, plead…get those good guns!

I recieved a call from a friend regarding this article… he indicated that most of the good guns are redeemed by thier owner… so much for the flood of great guns from the public to your local pawn broker. i still believe that there are some great deals at pawn shops on fine grade guns. i have mostly gotten deals on mauser sporters… and mostly of the guild variety. i would be willing to bet that some really nice field grade guns show up, that are in barely used condition. i think that there are a lot of guns from the 60s 70s vintage that are lurking in closets! get em’ while they’re cold!

the front door is nearly finished... come on by!

So…the door is painted on… the interior is painted, paint everywhere…construction fumes almost gone! we took a building from 1929 and built a 2009 building inside of it. we could have probably built a brandnew building quicker. making the building safe and useable proved a difficult undertaking to say the least. a useable retail space that is also attractive is the goal of all retail designers… this is my first. i wanted a gunstore that is reminescent of the hallowed gunquarters that sold these items when purchased new. that meant drawing from all available resources. i looked at old photos and read every description i could find… thanks to the late, great Geoffrey Boothroyd! in those storefronts from the past, most of them only sold thier in-house brand, and a select few used guns. from what i can find, most of these had, by modern standards, relatively few guns in stock. american gunstores were almost always much larger, with most of the available makers in stock. our challenge was to build a space that could hold hundreds of guns on our public floor, and to not get that “warehouse” feel of many modern stores. all modern stores that sell a mixture of old and new guns face the question of spacial planning. how do you emphasize each product effectively? well, i can tell you it is one hell of a challenge! i will be posting photos of the progress as it happened, to get us to the point we are at now, as well as future developments… we’ll keep you posted.

good stuff, calcutta's best!

there is some talk of these returning... let's hope!

these are so damn great! these are my favourite over-under guns of all time. sexy!

on to vegas… this show was expensive and awful… this is a legendary old show and deserves much credit. wally beinfeld works very hard at the show and his staff is super nice… i have heard that this show used to be way better when the s.c.i. show was held in conjunction. two years ago the shot show was going on at the same time and it seemed that the traffic was much better. one of the biggest detrements to this show is the casino where the show is held. the riviera casino is basically a “teardown” at this point… the staff for this place is rude and seem to be on liquidation mode. there are no resturants in this casino that are edible… the food court is shut down and staff members did not, in some cases, know that it existed. the casino did not see fit to set up a concession stand anywhere near the show. the only resturant in easy walking distance was staffed by one person and the food was expensive. this led to a half hour wait for a coke… luckily, you were only competing with other dealers for this food…there was no public at this show. this was especially true on the sporting arms side of the show. for those who have not attended this show, there are two large exibit rooms that are 200×100 yards long. they are separated by a distance of 500 yards from entrance to entrance. you cannot see the entrance to the sporting arms show from the antique arms entrance. between the two entrances is a door to the outside. it is possible to enter and never see one or the other show. the tickets are sold at a window that is past both shows… in other words you must pass both entrances to get a ticket to both shows… the trouble is that many people i encountered thought that the sporting arms side was just the custom knife show. in the large room that holds the sporting arms show and the knife show there is a large empty space meant to separate the two shows… from the door this is what you see… talking with my fellow exibitors, i found that the general consensus was that all of the people who went to the sporting arms side, also went over to the antique arms room. the opposite was not true… a factor may be that there was a good selection of sporting arms to be had in the antique side. i am not sure that over half of the antique side was not sporting arms. most of the dealers on the antique side had a pretty nice selection of both collectable and useable sporting arms, so that for a user or a collector, the antique side was a must see… the ephemera on the antique side was much cooler than on the sporting side. this is still one of the all time great shows… biggest factor… the economy. end of story, vegas was empty, and in years past the collateral benifits of a show in Las Vegas were a big pull. who really wants to go spend a big bunch of money in vegas with the world coming to an end? the dedication it takes to put on a show like vegas is enormous. i do thank the staff of the las vegas show, they are wonderful folks!

a really nice evening! thanks to all who came out!

that is the famous german gun expert, Bob Jones, holding court in the foreground. a truly wonderful human!

my favourite place on earth, that is indoors... my bench!

left side view of the bench, partially finished…

small part of the vault… my very own slice of heaven!

the left wall…willoughby mccabe & co jan 09

view from the entry, willoughby mccabe & co. jan 09

right window display, willoughby mccabe & co, jan 09