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 shotgun, first introduced in 1878. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery (Syracuse, NY), Section 32, Plot 96 Biography Born in Hopewell, New York, Uncle Dan Lefever's gunmaking career began as an apprentice in Canandaigua, New York 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. This partnership broke up in 1867. Gun manufactory Sometime before 1870 D. M. Lefever moved to Auburn, New York where he joined with Francis Dangerfield to form Dangerfield & Lefever. This firm made primarily breechloading double shotguns. 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. 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 hammerless 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