Daniel Myron Lefever (August 27, 1835 – October 29, 1906) was an American gun maker, popularly known as "Uncle Dan Lefever". He is best known as the inventor of the

hammerless A hammerless firearm is a firearm that lacks an exposed hammer (firearm), hammer or hammer spur. Although it may not literally lack a hammer, it lacks an external hammer that the user can manipulate directly. One of the disadvantages of an expo ...

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

, first introduced in 1878. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Biography

Born in

Hopewell, New York Hopewell is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ontario County, New York, Ontario County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 3,931 at the 2020 census. The Town of Hopewell is in the north central part ...

, Uncle Dan Lefever's gunmaking career began as an apprentice in

Canandaigua, New York Canandaigua () is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,576 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county complex in the adjacent town of Hopewell. ...

in the early 1850s. He married Sarah Stead on June 10, 1857, in Canandaigua. He opened his own gunshop in Canandaigua in 1857. His principal business was making muzzle-loading rifles. In 1862 he joined with James Ellis to form Lefever & Ellis. They built long-range rifles which were used in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. This partnership broke up in 1867.

Gun factory

Sometime before 1870 D. M. Lefever moved to

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...

where he joined with Francis Dangerfield to form Dangerfield & Lefever. This firm made primarily

breechloading A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech end of the barrel (i.e., from the rearward, open end of the gun's barrel), as opposed to a muzzleloader, in which the user loads the ammunition from the ( muzzle ...

double

shotguns A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

. They also converted muzzle-loading guns to breech-loading. This firm dissolved in late 1873 or early 1874. In early 1874 D. M. Lefever moved to

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

. Here he joined with Lorenzo Barber to form Barber & Lefever. Again they made breech-loading shotguns and rifles. This partnership lasted a short two years. D. M. Lefever then joined with John Nichols and formed Nichols & Lefever. During this time D. M. Lefever worked on the development of the

shotgun. These guns were cocked with a cocking lever on the side of the breech. In 1878 he won first prize at the St. Louis Bench Show and Sportsman's Association for the best breech-loading shotgun in America.

Automatic hammerless shotgun

By the time D. M. Lefever patented his hammerless shotgun in 1880 he had left ''Nichols & Lefever'' and gone into business for himself. In 1883 D. M. Lefever patented the first truly automatic hammerless shotgun. This internalized the cocking mechanism so that the gun was automatically cocked when the breech was closed. He also patented the automatic ejector system which ejected the used shells when the breech was opened. In 1886 D. M. Lefever lost control of his company which by then was called Lefever Arms Company. However, he remained as superintendent until 1902. In 1902 D. M. Lefever left ''Lefever Arms Company'' to form D. M. Lefever, Sons & Company with sons Charles F. Lefever (also known as Fred who later invented the ''Model 25 Daisy BB pump gun''), Frank, and George. They continued to make fine hammerless shotguns, but could not compete with the larger Lefever Arms Company. In 1904 they moved to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, first in Defiance and within a year in

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

. In 1906 they returned to

, however, before being able to re-establish a viable company D. M. Lefever died on October 29 in Syracuse of a

stomach ulcer The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the upper gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The Ancient Greek name for the stomach is ''gaster'' which is used as ''gastric'' in medical terms re ...

. His remains are interred, with his wife (who died in 1898), in Woodlawn Cemetery in Syracuse. The '' Lefever Arms Company'' continued to make fine Lefever designed shotguns in Syracuse until 1916 when they were purchased by the Ithaca Gun Company. Ithaca continued to produce Lefever-designed guns under the Lefever Arms Company name in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

until 1921. These were made using primarily left-over parts from the Syracuse operation. Shortly after that the Ithaca Gun Company used the Lefever name to market an inexpensive gun, the "Lefever Nitro Special", that was of their own design, having nothing to do with D. M. Lefever except to exploit his name. These were manufactured until the early 1940s.

Uncle Dan LeFever Cup

The Lefever Arms Collectors Association created the "Uncle Dan Lefever Cup" in honor of the legacy of D.M. Lefever. The "Uncle Dan LeFever Cup" shoot-off is held annually during a LACA designated trap shoot event. The highest scoring shooter wins a trophy engraved with the year the champion won. Only LACA members, firing Lefever guns, are eligible for the award. The first "Uncle Dan Lefever Cup" was awarded during the Greater Northeast Side by Side in Friendsville, PA, on June 6, 2010. LACA held the 2nd Annual shoot-off during the June 2011 Nimrod Classic in Bozeman, MT. The 3rd Annual Uncle Dan Cup was held again at the Greater Northeast Side by Side in Friendsville, PA, on June 2, 2012. The 4th Annual Uncle Dan Cup will be held at the Spring 2013 Southern Side By Side in Sanford, NC. April 26–27, 2013.

References

External links

The Lefever Forum
For more Lefever information.
Lefever Arms Collectors Association websiteDaniel M. LeFever grave
at Woodlawn Cemetery (Syracuse, New York) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefever, Daniel Myron 1835 births 1906 deaths Firearm designers 19th-century American inventors Gunsmiths People from Hopewell, New York People from Canandaigua, New York People from Syracuse, New York Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Syracuse, New York)