A friend had a very well used Ithaca Nitro Special 12ga that had been in his family for a long time. He had been after me to do some engraving work for him, just something on a knife, or initials on a grip cap. So I told him to give me the Ithaca and I'd put something on it if that was OK with him. He was delighted and hinted at something from his 30yr USN career.
So I took the N/S and stripped it to the bones. The orig butt stock had been repaired a couple times in the past, missing wood up by the recv'r at the top. It had been sanded and refinished. A Black Decelerator recoil pad was on it, or one of those types. His rebuilt shoulder can't take excessive pounding.
Forend wood worn but solid. Frame and trigger guard just brown metal. All about how you find most Ithaca Lefever Nitro Specials.
I think he thought I was going to put something on that original trigger guard, just engraved in and probably re-rust blue the guard.
I had other ideas.
I took the shotgun entirely apart.
I wanted to reshape the frame and parts of the gun to take the block-stocky look of it away. It is a very strong gun, but I felt that with some work a better looking gun could be carved out of it.
Those long straight sides of the frame, the near flat bottom and top give that 'brick with a 2x4 attached' look when the bbls are on it.
Needed to go on a diet.
I thinned the front of the frame back to a point where a decided an arc would look nice and leave the back portion of the frame slightly higher.
Those rear raised panels are also thinned down from the original width of the action.
The bottom of the entire frame is rounded,,not a lot and not in a perfect arc. The idea was to bring the lower edge of the action as viewed from the side up. That makes the side look narrower and trimmer.
The same was done to the top of the action. It's flat top design was rounded along with the top lever to trim it up and bring the top side edge lower,,again narrowing the side view.
The triggers are a bit bulky on the orig so I slimmed them up by filing them and changing their profile. A couple bends under heat changed their positions within the slightly roomier new guard
The action screws all looked as if they had been tightened with a CampKing combination jack-knife and screwdriver.
I used the original action screws but turned the heads down and hard soldered new heads on them. Extra long they are slotted rough w/a hacksaw, turned into position, marked for the final slot on the sides. The shortened, final slots cut, seated and file trimmed smooth to the frame.
Trigger guard and grip cap screws are lathe made. All are engraved.
All the screw slots are .020 wide on the gun now. Simply done w/a Jewelers Saw. A bit much maybe, but why not as long as you're making them up.
Then I did the engraving. The owner is a hunter, so I wanted to put a couple birds on it. One each on the sides. The birds are just cut in steel.
Some simple scroll work but tried to keep it from being full coverage.
On the bottom I put his CPO insignia in 24k yellow gold, 14k rose gold and .99F Silver.
His son is currently in the US Navy and had recently made the rank of Captain.
So below that I put the USN Captains Eagle insignia in .99F Silver
]
The shotgun will go on to his Son and then his Grandson
In the trigger guard bow I put the motto of the US Navy War College in a banner. His son a grad of that Institute.
(No pic of that for some reason,,could it be the camera that uses floppy discs??)
The shotgun frame and parts I finished in a grey tone finish. The Bbls I rust blued, the original straight line rib matting I recut to elliminate some scars. Some scroll engraving to match on the bbls.
The trigger plate is lettered Lefever Gun Co. / Syracuse . Ithaca, NY
The BBl is lettered Lefever Special / Lefever Arms Co
The top lever over all was filed up trimmer and that Bullseye thumpiece stamping was filed off, the thumpiece contoured and then checkered with a graver.
]
I signed the work in my usual spot on the trigger plate.
Though the orig butt stock did have some figure in the wood, I wanted to replace it with a better fitting and dimensioned stock. I wanted to put that Decelerator pad or what ever it is back on.
I had a NOS pre-inlet Nitro Special stock lying around. I had thought of using it on another project gun of mine but I figured this one was a better choice. The stock was rough turned and inletted to say the least and is what was used at the Ithaca factory when these guns were made from about 1921 to just after WW2.
This stock probably came from the Ithaca factory in the 80's when they closed up and sold off tons of old inventory/parts.
The old pad was large enough to be able to be belt ground nicely for a perfect fit to the 'new' wood.
I fitted the stock to the frame but changed the drop a bit, bringing the comb up some to get a better fit than those old style common 3"+ drop.
I squared(flat steps) the back side of the rear tang post that the thru bolt pulls on. Then I glass bed that surface in the wood. That gives a nice flat surface to recoil against along with the recv'r edges. Otherwise that big round surface is like a blunt chisel and backs up and splits the stock at the wrist if the bedding gets loose. A common problem with these shotguns.
There was Plenty of wood to work with. I didn't like the original plain no-tang trigger guard on the NitroSpec gun.
So I dug around and came up with a rather beat but usable LC Smith pre-1913 trigger guard. Polishedup & fitted to the action, tang inletted into the wood, it makes a rather nice compliment to the lines.
It uses 2 screws to secure the tang, both lathe made.
The original Nitro Special A-Grade used a similar full tang guard and it always looked nice to me.
A grip cap of Ebony, but I think it's actually what they call African Black Wood. Not quite as 'black' in color as ebony I'm used to but not the oil and wax in the wood either so it finished and glues easily.
It's glued to the grip but I added a cap screw in the center cause I think it looked like it needed a screw in the center.
The forend is the original factory forend wood. I reshaped it to slim it down and get that slight schnobel at the end. I added the 'Ebony' inlay in the tip to match the grip cap. Same African Black Wood as the grip cap. Looks kind of reddish in the pic for some reason. Maybe gun aliens.
The forend walnut was much darker than the new/old butt stock. I bleached the forend to lighten it up quite a bit then stained both back down to match.
Finish is a sanded into the grain Polyurethane. Then top coatings of Linseed and Artists Drying Oil rubbed out.
I checkered with 20LPI. Simple pattern but usefull.
Well he wanted something engraved,,He seemed to like it.
It shoots nice too,,Just as well as it did before!!
28in,,Mod & Full,,Perfect!
So I took the N/S and stripped it to the bones. The orig butt stock had been repaired a couple times in the past, missing wood up by the recv'r at the top. It had been sanded and refinished. A Black Decelerator recoil pad was on it, or one of those types. His rebuilt shoulder can't take excessive pounding.
Forend wood worn but solid. Frame and trigger guard just brown metal. All about how you find most Ithaca Lefever Nitro Specials.
I think he thought I was going to put something on that original trigger guard, just engraved in and probably re-rust blue the guard.
I had other ideas.
I took the shotgun entirely apart.
I wanted to reshape the frame and parts of the gun to take the block-stocky look of it away. It is a very strong gun, but I felt that with some work a better looking gun could be carved out of it.
Those long straight sides of the frame, the near flat bottom and top give that 'brick with a 2x4 attached' look when the bbls are on it.
Needed to go on a diet.
I thinned the front of the frame back to a point where a decided an arc would look nice and leave the back portion of the frame slightly higher.
Those rear raised panels are also thinned down from the original width of the action.
The bottom of the entire frame is rounded,,not a lot and not in a perfect arc. The idea was to bring the lower edge of the action as viewed from the side up. That makes the side look narrower and trimmer.
The same was done to the top of the action. It's flat top design was rounded along with the top lever to trim it up and bring the top side edge lower,,again narrowing the side view.
The triggers are a bit bulky on the orig so I slimmed them up by filing them and changing their profile. A couple bends under heat changed their positions within the slightly roomier new guard
The action screws all looked as if they had been tightened with a CampKing combination jack-knife and screwdriver.
I used the original action screws but turned the heads down and hard soldered new heads on them. Extra long they are slotted rough w/a hacksaw, turned into position, marked for the final slot on the sides. The shortened, final slots cut, seated and file trimmed smooth to the frame.
Trigger guard and grip cap screws are lathe made. All are engraved.
All the screw slots are .020 wide on the gun now. Simply done w/a Jewelers Saw. A bit much maybe, but why not as long as you're making them up.
Then I did the engraving. The owner is a hunter, so I wanted to put a couple birds on it. One each on the sides. The birds are just cut in steel.
Some simple scroll work but tried to keep it from being full coverage.
On the bottom I put his CPO insignia in 24k yellow gold, 14k rose gold and .99F Silver.
His son is currently in the US Navy and had recently made the rank of Captain.
So below that I put the USN Captains Eagle insignia in .99F Silver
]
The shotgun will go on to his Son and then his Grandson
In the trigger guard bow I put the motto of the US Navy War College in a banner. His son a grad of that Institute.
(No pic of that for some reason,,could it be the camera that uses floppy discs??)
The shotgun frame and parts I finished in a grey tone finish. The Bbls I rust blued, the original straight line rib matting I recut to elliminate some scars. Some scroll engraving to match on the bbls.
The trigger plate is lettered Lefever Gun Co. / Syracuse . Ithaca, NY
The BBl is lettered Lefever Special / Lefever Arms Co
The top lever over all was filed up trimmer and that Bullseye thumpiece stamping was filed off, the thumpiece contoured and then checkered with a graver.
]
I signed the work in my usual spot on the trigger plate.
Though the orig butt stock did have some figure in the wood, I wanted to replace it with a better fitting and dimensioned stock. I wanted to put that Decelerator pad or what ever it is back on.
I had a NOS pre-inlet Nitro Special stock lying around. I had thought of using it on another project gun of mine but I figured this one was a better choice. The stock was rough turned and inletted to say the least and is what was used at the Ithaca factory when these guns were made from about 1921 to just after WW2.
This stock probably came from the Ithaca factory in the 80's when they closed up and sold off tons of old inventory/parts.
The old pad was large enough to be able to be belt ground nicely for a perfect fit to the 'new' wood.
I fitted the stock to the frame but changed the drop a bit, bringing the comb up some to get a better fit than those old style common 3"+ drop.
I squared(flat steps) the back side of the rear tang post that the thru bolt pulls on. Then I glass bed that surface in the wood. That gives a nice flat surface to recoil against along with the recv'r edges. Otherwise that big round surface is like a blunt chisel and backs up and splits the stock at the wrist if the bedding gets loose. A common problem with these shotguns.
There was Plenty of wood to work with. I didn't like the original plain no-tang trigger guard on the NitroSpec gun.
So I dug around and came up with a rather beat but usable LC Smith pre-1913 trigger guard. Polishedup & fitted to the action, tang inletted into the wood, it makes a rather nice compliment to the lines.
It uses 2 screws to secure the tang, both lathe made.
The original Nitro Special A-Grade used a similar full tang guard and it always looked nice to me.
A grip cap of Ebony, but I think it's actually what they call African Black Wood. Not quite as 'black' in color as ebony I'm used to but not the oil and wax in the wood either so it finished and glues easily.
It's glued to the grip but I added a cap screw in the center cause I think it looked like it needed a screw in the center.
The forend is the original factory forend wood. I reshaped it to slim it down and get that slight schnobel at the end. I added the 'Ebony' inlay in the tip to match the grip cap. Same African Black Wood as the grip cap. Looks kind of reddish in the pic for some reason. Maybe gun aliens.
The forend walnut was much darker than the new/old butt stock. I bleached the forend to lighten it up quite a bit then stained both back down to match.
Finish is a sanded into the grain Polyurethane. Then top coatings of Linseed and Artists Drying Oil rubbed out.
I checkered with 20LPI. Simple pattern but usefull.
Well he wanted something engraved,,He seemed to like it.
It shoots nice too,,Just as well as it did before!!
28in,,Mod & Full,,Perfect!
