Location: Syracuse, New York

Founded by Dan Lefever (president), in 1884, who was a pioneer in the field of breech-loading firearms. He was referred to as "Uncle Dan" within the firearms industry. He was responsible for many improvements in double-barrel shotgun design. He developed the automatic hammerless system in late 1880s. He also developed a compensating action that allowed simple adjustments to compensate for action wear. In 1901, he was forced out of the company and organized another company—D.M. Lefever, Sons & Company—also in Syracuse. Dan Lefever died in 1906 and his new company went out of business. The original company was acquired by Ithaca in 1916. They continued to produce Lefever guns until 1948.