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According to Walter Snyder The original Lefever Arms Co. under the Durstons was never incorporated. It was incorporated under the names of some of the principals of the Ithaca Gun Co. (but not the Ithaca Gun Co. itself)on July 6, 1916. The Document of Incorporation is reproduced on page 96 of Walter's 2nd Edition of "The Ithaca Gun Company: From the beginning".

Apparently all of the material was shipped directly to the Ithaca Gun Co. on March 4, 1916. It appears that the Lefever Arms Co. was still a separate entity from The Ithaca Gun Co. although the owners of both were the same group of individuals. The Lefever Arms Co had to pay rent and a royalty to the Ithaca Gun Co for each gun produced. I do not know what happened in 1919 when original Lefever production ceased. By 1933 the Lefever Arms Co. catalog marketing the Nitro Specials stated "operated by the Ithaca Gun Co". That same year barrels were changed from Lefever Arms Ithaca, NY to Lefever Arms, a branch of Ithaca Gun Co. By 1935 The catalogs of the two companies were combined.

A 1951 Tax Court decision raises questions about Walt Snyder's statement. The decision involved an employee who went to work for Lefever Arms Co. in the gun business in 1913. The court's decision describes the sale of the gun business to Ithaca and the continuation of Lefever Arms Co. in the automotive gear business, which after 1918 operated under the name of Durston Gear Corporation. While the decision is not crystally clear about when the corporation was formed, it is explicitly talking about a corporation with shares and suggests that after 1918 there was a name change to Durston Gear Corporation. See Bryan v. IRS, 16 T.C. 972, 1951 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 203 (1951). Maybe Walt can shed more light on this, but the Tax Court decision sounds like the Lefever Arms Co. gun business assets were sold by a corporation which went into the automotive gear business and eventually changed its name to Durston Gear Corporation. Hopefully Walt has some specifics that he might be able to share to shed light on this.

Dr. Bob, The part gun of the business was sold in 1916. The Lefever Gear business went on from there. I can bring the Bill of sale, etc.to the SxS next week if you want to see it. All Lefevers were from Ithaca post 1916 period.

Walt, Can you possibly provide a scan (PDF) or xerox copy of the Bill of Sale, etc. relating to the sale. Given the description of the corporate history in the tax case I mentioned it sounds like it was an asset sale (parts, inventory, work in process and the trade name) and that the corporation continued in the gear business. It is not as clear as it might be so your paperwork (bill of sale and any related papers) would likely be very, very helpful. Thanks.

Walter, I will be at the Southern SxS at the Lefever table next weekend. I would very much like to see what you have and discuss what we do know about the transfer.

I mis-spoke. I do not have the bill of sale. What I have are the minutes of the newly purchased assets where it lists among them the right to use the Lefever name for shotguns only' or words to that effect.

Walter does that perhaps include an inventory of goods purchased or is that just the agreement to allow them to continue making and using the Lefever name in guns only? That would put much of this debate to rest by itself. If parts on hand was less than enough to make a few hundred guns then it was not so much a parts cleanup as an attempt to keep making the Lefevers from scratch. And Ithaca could certainly make any Lefever from scratch if desired. Perhaps demand was not what was expected or the profit in making the Lefever was just to small to justify the space, labor pool and investment for a decreasing product line. Any minutes from the meeting deciding to stop Lefever production could give clues to when and why they were dropped from the product line.

Considering that Ithaca had their own flagship boxlock double guns, which were certainly well made and very popular, it seems likely that the sole intent of Ithaca was to capitalize on the good Lefever brand name with the introduction of the cheaper Nitro Special. Considering how slowly things often moved in the gun industry, it didn't take long after 1919 for the Nitro Special to emerge. They must have gotten a pretty good deal on the Lefever name and inventory, because they were advertising sideplate guns at a 40% discount in the 1917 catalog according to Elliot. I wonder if sales of Lefever sideplate guns appeared anywhere in Ithaca's ledgers??? Remington may have made Parkers, but it is very doubtful that we'd ever see Remington making model 94 Winchesters. Companies are funny about propping up the products that come from their major competition.

Since the Nitro Specials eventually reached four times the production numbers of the original hammerless sideplate Lefevers, it seems it was a smart business move. I want to thank Mr. Snyder for his input and perhaps providing a couple more pieces to the puzzle.

I have somewhere a memo from one of the Livermores where it is stated that Ithaca never intended to produce the side plate gun as part of the Ithaca product line. Their intent was to use the Lefever name on a lower priced gun. The war delayed the introduction of the Lefever Nitro Special a few years. The minutes noted all gun related parts, work in progress and most of the gun related machinery with a few exceptions that are spelled out.( A Miller milling machine, a grinder and a few other things). It seems to me that the Durstons wanted out of the gun business and into the more profitable auto gear business. Bob Noble sent me a copy of the Durston's gear catalog.

Walter, is it your feeling that Ithaca just finished up parts on hand or did they build a significant number of side plate Lefevers from scratch? And to me new guns produced, not from parts on hand, would be interesting to know about. Many assumed that several thousand guns might have been made from parts on hand but I have always wondered how a company that for years had been undercapitalized could have built up vast stores of parts. The Durstons were no fools and I just could not see them allowing the gun side to build up parts inventory just to keep employees busy and give them work while tying up money in parts not with a prospect of quick profits.

Is there a break down of parts? Number of rough castings or receivers on hand. To me the key is receivers as everything else could be easily made but the expense of new receivers would not be justified if you were just using up parts. Perhaps several hundred receivers on hand for the DS and regular Lefevers and went with the sale. They would be just scrap unless used to make new guns. I think good records would be a great source for a article and perhaps answer one or more burning questions for Lefever fans. then again they just might open up more speculation as well.