I have in my possession a Lefever 12 ga shotgun that belongs to a friend of mine. He knows little or nothing of firearms and he has turned this over to me to try and get it taken care of for him.

A little background:

He was quite close to his father, who passed away years ago. This shotgun belonged to his Dad and my buddy had forgotten it existed until 3 years ago when an aunt in Connecticut passed away and he "inherited" the gun. Her house had been flooded a couple of times and there's signifigant-though not terminal-damage to the shotgun.

I did a search on the web about Lefever shotguns and found that Itahca bought them years ago. I called Ithaca about a year ago and they gave me the name and number of a restoration specialist. I called the guy, talked to him about the gun and it was shelved until just recently. My buddy now has the cash to move on the restoration but I lost the number of the original contact and another that was recommended to me just won't return my calls. BOTH of those contacts were in upstate New York.

WHAT THE GUN NEEDS:

The forestock is intact. The rear stock is commpletely gone-a new one will need to be fabricated. The lock and firing mechanism are intact, but all in pieces. When he gave me the gun all that was rusted and I soaked it in solvent and disassembled it to give it a further cleaning. The barrel is is excellent condition but of course need a quality re-blueing.

WHAT I NEED:

I'd like to deal with someone relatively local-I'll even deal with someone in Tucson, Payson, Prescott-but they have to be   reputable and known for quality work. Both my buddy and I realize that the work likely won't be cheap, but HE is willing to pay for quality work and craftsmanship. I realize that I could just open the Yeller Pages and start calling, but to me word of mouth advertising is FAR BETTER than any other.

SO....if any of you have recommendations or suggestions for a QUALITY restoration gunsmith in the state of Arizona, please turn me onto their name and if possible business number. I've heard that there's some really kick-ass smiths in AZ and I'd prefer to stay local with the gun, work and MONEY. Please be advised: No insult intended, but I DO NOT WANT the name of someone that "Might be able to handle this". My buddy is willing to pay-within reason-to have this restored to SHOOTING CONDITION.

Thanks in advance to all that took the time to read and reply to this post.

OK.......I'm WAITING!!!!!

I am in a similar situation with an Ithaca double barrel left to me by my wife's grandfather. I found this link,  

http://www.diamondgunsmithing.com/

while searching the web but I too would prefer to stay local. Thanks in advance for the help.

I don't know if you can find anyone local or not. Go to Barnes & Noble and check the magazine rack for The Doublegun Journal, you should be able to find doublegun smiths advertising in there.

Thanks guys.


Diamond Gunsmithing is the place that hasn't returned my calls.

Please keep any suggestions coming.