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Rare 19th C. Patent Model: ''Breechloading Fire-Arm

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:300.00 USD
Rare 19th C. Patent Model: ''Breechloading Fire-Arm
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Rare and Genuine 19th Century U.S. Patent Office Model ''Breech Loading Fire-Arm'', Patent No. 145944 granted to Alexander Henry on Dec. 30, 1873, consisting of a full-size rifle breech measuring 10-5/8'' overall (incl. stub barrel) crafted of brass (or bronze) and fitted with a 4-13/16'' octagonal steel barrel measuring 15/16'' across flats; breech has a hinged operating lever with thumb-tab that drops open the breech when lowered, auto-extraction (that seems incomplete/inoperative), and usual trigger arrangement. Device is quite heavy, very professionally and well-made. Attached by a faded red ribbon is a 3'' x 3.25'' manila card tag marked ''No. 145944/Alexander Henry/Breech Loading/Fire-Arms./Patented Dec. 30th/1873'', another which cannot be accessed because plastic holder is stapled closed, a newer card reading ''Certified to be the original model #145944/From:/Mr. and Mrs. O. Rundle Gilbert's/Collection of Original United States/Patent Models 1790-1890'', and another reading ''O. Rundle Gilbert Auctioneer/Garrison-On-Hudson, N.Y. 10524/914-424-3657.'' Condition of the breech model is fine, having a light age patina to the brass, the barrel light gunmetal gray, the 1873 tag rather fragile as expected, the rest fine. Possibly the famed Scottish gunsmith Alexander Henry (1818-1894) who designed the rifling and barrel used in the Martini-Henry rifle. Est.: $600-$900.