Lefever Thousand Dollar Grade
Lefever Arms Company · Shotgun · Discontinued · 1913
Also known as: Lefever $1000 Grade, Lefever Thousand Dollar Gun
Overview
The Thousand Dollar Grade was the top of the Lefever Arms Company grade ladder, a made-to-order break-action side-by-side shotgun advertised as 'the finest gun that can be made at any price.' Built on the same hammerless boxlock as lesser Lefever grades but finished to individual specification with the best exhibition walnut, exhaustive hand engraving and gold inlay, it sat above even the Optimus and AA grades. Because each gun was built exactly to the buyer's requirements, examples are exceedingly rare among American double-gun collectors.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 3200 g (112.9 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1168 mm (45.98") |
| Barrel Length | 762 mm (30.00") |
| Action Type | Break Action |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Double Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 2 rounds |
| Effective Range | 40 m (44 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | None |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Walnut |
| Finish | Case Hardened |
Calibers
- 12 Gauge · primary — also known as 12GA, 12 Bore
Features
- Firing modes: Manual
- Feed systems: Break Action
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety, Cocking Indicators
- Features: Side By Side, Hammerless Boxlock, Double Trigger, Automatic Ejectors, Adjustable Cocking Mechanism, Hand Engraving, Gold Inlay, Exhibition Grade Walnut
Base model
Production
Production years: c.1913-1916
Custom-built to order; only a tiny number are believed to have been made, and surviving examples are among the rarest of all Lefever grades.
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: Daniel Myron Lefever
Discontinued: 1916
Notes
The $1,000 name referenced the extraordinary 1913-era retail price - roughly a house's worth of money at the time - not any fixed specification, since each gun was custom built. Weight, overall length and barrel length here are typical-range approximations for a 12-gauge field configuration; grade, barrel length, chokes and dimensions varied with each order. Also available in 16 and 20 gauge on request. Lefever Arms Company was absorbed by Ithaca Gun Company around 1916.
Background
Listed in the 1913 Lefever catalog as the pinnacle of the line, the Thousand Dollar Grade was so exclusive that the company declined to standardize it: 'A sportsman's requirements vary to such an extent in a gun of this grade that we prefer to build the gun exactly to their specifications.' Collectors say that anyone who actually owns one already knows exactly what it is.