For more detailed and technical information use the menu bar above.
Below are representations of guns showing general information such as serial number and grade location, how to determine if your gun has ejectors or extractors, patent dates and types of barrels used.
Lefever sideplate serial numbers start at 5000 and end somewhere in the mid 74XXX range. Anything over 100,000 is a Nitro Special made by Ithaca and is a completely different gun. The best place to find the serial number will be on the water table. Next to the serial number, or somewhere on the water table, will be a letter indicating the grade of the gun. Some guns do not have a grade stamping and are considered special order.
Lefever crossbolt guns have serial numbers that start at 1000 and end somewhere just shy of 2300. They are in the same location as the sideplate guns but do not have grade stampings. Some crossbolts do however have the grade stamped into the wood underneath the grip cap.
For more information on grades or to see photographs of them use the Menu bar at the top of this page.
Lefever sideplate ejectors start around serial number 175XX for the forend type which was Uncle Dans first ejector system to be patented. The frame ejector system came quickly afterwards and was the predominant system to be used. An easy way to see if your gun has ejectors is to look where the shells would be inserted/extracted. If the extraction bar, at the bottom, is split so that each side is independent of the other then it has ejectors.
Lefever crossbolt ejectors start at the beginning of production, serial number 1000. (NOTE: This was in 1901 after Uncle Dan left the Lefever Arms Company). The crossbolts used a forend type system at first but was quickly replaced by a frame type system thought to have been invented by Uncle Dans son, Charles Lefever.
Shown in the late issued 1905 catalog after moving to Bowling Green, OH, the company apparently went back to a forend type system. This was mainly due to a change made in the cocking mechanism from the trigger plate design to one known as a pin frame.
Here are some examples showing the most common barrel types used by the company during its 32 to 36 years in operation. Other barrel types used include Whitworth and Ordnance. These examples are to assist those not familiar with the different types of barrels made at the time which were imported mainly from Belgium and London.
The dates you see here represent the dates of granted patents that were used on Lefever guns. These dates are stamped on the bottom of the gun directly in front of the trigger on the trigger plate. Uncle Dan Lefever had about 20 patents granted to him or associated with his name.
