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FINE RARE J. & J. MILLER REVOLVING PILL LOCK RIFLE CONVERTED TO SINGLE SHOT PERCUSSION, GOLD ACCENTED AND INSCRIBED
Guns International #: 102537279 Seller's Inventory #:
Category: Antique Rifles - 1500-1850 - Antique Rifles - Percussion
Seller's Information
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Seller: Matt's Custom Guns
Member Since: 3/18/20
First Name: Matt
Last Name: McGraw
State: Indiana
Zip: 47331
Country: United States
Phone: (765) 825-3418
Number of Active Listings: 6
Seller: FFL Dealer
Return Policy: 3 day inspection and return policy on used guns.
Payment Types Accepted: Visa, Master Card, Money Order, Cashiers Check
Description:
This quality single shot percussion rifle was originally a first model J. & J. Miller revolving pill lock rifle and is marked as such on both the barrel and the lock plate. According to Norm Flayderman, specimens so marked are scarcer and normally bring a premium value over the more often encountered style marked W. Billinghurst. This rifle was converted to single shot probably by Billinghurst either as an employee of J. & J. Miller or at a later date in his own shop. This is one of two known conversions of this type which supports the theory the J. & J. Miller patent was not practical. This was one of the earliest revolving arms patented in the United States, but lacked the important feature of automatic cocking and locking of the cylinder which was later claimed by the Samuel Colt in his first U.S, revolver patent of 1836. Nevertheless, quite a few gunmakers made revolving rifles under the J. & J. Miller patent but still the total of all such rifles is estimated at a few hundred. Nearly all of these rifles are found converted to percussion ignition due to the eventual universal acceptance of the percussion cap and the unavailability of the pills. The ovoid patchbox engraved with a federal shield before a panoply of arms, the engraved bow and quiver on the cheek, and the vacant wrist escutcheon, the name plate opposite the lock, and the four barrel key escutcheons, all rectangular in form with clipped corners, are all solid gold. The name plate is inscribed "Wm. DeForest Holly." A little research may prove valuable. A quick Google search of Wm. DeForest Holly turned up some quite interesting references: the first a record of a property transfer from Wm. DeFirest Holly in Orleans in 1837, the original period of this rifle; the second an account of Spurlings command (Steele's cavalry) in Baldwin County, Alabama in 1865, apparently Wm. DeForest Holly among the participants; and the third a reference to Wm. DeForest Holly as a correspondent in the June 1853 edition of The American Cotton Planter, published in Montgomery, Alabama. The walnut stock though dark is beautiful grained. The approximately .48 caliber round 30" barrel has a ln approximatley 8" long chiseled top rib. A fine quality, rare and lovely rifle.
SOLD
Antique: Yes