A large chip has been missing from the butt plate for longer than I’ve been alive. I have no idea what caused the deep gouge in the left side of the stock wrist, but it looked really old the first time I saw it, lo those many years ago. I toted it for many a mile and I’m sure I gave it my share of wear & tear, but someone before me had put many more miles on it than I ever did, even wearing away the engraving from the steel receiver - and erasing every trace of the case coloring that used to adorn the receiver’s surface. My first forays into the woods in search of game were taken with this very shotgun clutched in my bony little hands. That gouge in the stock appeared ancient 40+ years ago when I first saw this gun. This old scattergun has the same engraved scene on both sides, mostly worn away. It was a LeFever Nitro Special, essentially a mass-produced shotgun of good quality. His mama made him give one to his brother, so naturally Dad kept the double. Somewhere around young adulthood, my father became enamored of firearms and laid claim to them both there was a single-shot and a double barrel.

They had to be cheap, because there was never much money to go around. The story goes that my father’s father managed to get hold of a couple old 410 shotguns for cheap. In my case, the first firearm I could call my own was a side-by-side 410 shotgun, which I first carried in the woods nigh on 40 years ago. What was your first gun? Chances are, it’s the one that made the biggest impression on you, but it may not be the first one you fired. My first gun, a LeFever Nitro Special, has a lot of miles on it. My First Gun Was This LeFever Nitro Special.

Lefever nitro special shotgun history