Help me identify this gun

petey · #1 10-30-2009, 09:49 AM

So here we have a shotgun with no markings on it at all. No bore/gauge stamped on the barrel, no manufacture, no anything...well one number but it's "28" under the lever to break open the gun.

It apears to be 12 gauge, possibly 16.

From my judgement possibly early 1900's or later. Any clue at all??

My father-in-law's father passed away and this old gun was in the closet and handed down to him after his passing. He came to me with the question, so hopefully you all can help me out.

petey · #2 10-30-2009, 09:50 AM

couple more pics.

Thanks

BTW, it was chambered and reaks of old black powder so I'm not sure if this was back in the day of brass shotgun hulls or not.

Adam Helmer · #3 10-30-2009, 01:16 PM

petey,

Your old double shotgun has a unique opening lever under the forend. My book of old doubles is lent out, so I am sorry I can not be of much help. The gun is an early (circa 1900) double and could be 12, 14 or 16 gauge. I have a 14 gauge single Hopkins & Allen shotgun in my vault.

I will get my book back next week.

Adam

Catfish · #4 10-30-2009, 08:17 PM

Good luck. I went through my books and could not find one with the under lock that yours has. I have seen that lock type on a shotgun before but it`s been years and I can`t rember where or when or who made it, if I even knew then. If I see one at a gun show I`mm sure I`ll rember it and post what I find out.

dovehunter · #5 10-30-2009, 08:48 PM

I can I.D. it for you but only because I have one and someone helped I.D. mine for me. It is a Lefaucheux. Apparently other companies - Husqvarna for one - copied this pattern, but most are referred to as either a Lefaucheux or Lefaucheux pattern. Lefaucheux was a Belgian company. You can tell if yours is actually a Belgian Lefaucheux by the proofmarks. If any of them are an oval with a crown atop it it's the Belgian gun. It may be a Husqvarna if it doesn't have the Belgian proofmarks I described. I've never seen the Swedish proofmarks so I don't know what they look like.

My gun is a 16 ga. It is a little fancier than yours as it has the European style cheekpiece on the left side and the trigger guard is made so as to give the feel and appearance of a pistol grip stock. Otherwise it looks identical to yours.

According to my gunsmith (and the one who I.D.'d the gun for me) since my gun has "Englisher Stahl" written on both barrels it is safe to shoot with light modern smokeless powdwer loads. My gun also had short chambers so, if you want to shoot yours, you will want to get that checked out. My gunsmith said it was okay to ream out the chambers to 2-3/4" so I had mine done.

If you'd like I can e-mail you a scan of a page from an old gun book showing this gun if you'll post your e-mail address. This was sent to me by the guy (from another board) who I.D.'d my gun for me.

This gun is actually a pretty good shooter if you can get used to (what I think is) a wierd way of opening the gun and seeing those rabbit ears when looking down the barrels.

dovehunter · #6 10-30-2009, 09:00 PM

After taking a 2nd look at your gun, it appears that yours is a little different from mine in that mine has a 2nd underlever (flush with and under the one that opens the barrels) which when rotated to the left allows removing the barrels. That notwithstanding, I still believe your gun is a either a Lefaucheux or at least a Lefaucheux knockoff.

I have inserted (below) a picture of my gun with the barrels removed and both levers extended. As you can see they are essentially the same except for maybe the 2nd underlever on mine which removes the barrels.

It was one of four SxS doubles that my father-in-law liberated from the Germans during WW2. I inherited them when he passed some years back.

DogYeller · #7 11-02-2009, 09:13 AM

This looks alot like your gun.
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(fto...artNum=AAH-432

buckhunter · #8 11-02-2009, 12:32 PM

I'm told a lot of the older gun like yours were trade guns. Usually made by apprepriantces(sp) who where learning under a master gunsmith. Many of these have no markings. Yours may be one of these.

petey · #9 11-02-2009, 03:58 PM

Wow,

Thanks a lot guys. Definately looks to be a Lefaucheux pattern anyhow. Just like DogYeller's post w/out the cheek piece. It would be nice to know the exact manufacture date, but without markings it may be hard to determine. Special thanks to dovehunter for cracking the case!