Guns International #: 101514361
Seller's Inventory #: 200866

Category - Antique Rifles - 1500-1850 - Antique Rifles - Percussion

Category
Antique Rifles - 1500-1850
Antique Rifles - Percussion

VERY RARE Antique 1850 LANCASTER PATENT Two-Band OVAL BORE Rifle-Musket 50 Bore Lancaster’s Patent Rifle!

Description:
VERY RARE Antique 1850 LANCASTER PATENT Two-Band OVAL BORE Rifle-Musket

50 Bore Lancaster’s Patent Rifle!

Here we present an antique Two-Band Rifle-Musket by Charles Lancaster, manufactured in London, England circa 1850. Charles William Lancaster (1820-1878) was devoted to his craft and was among the best England had to offer in the field of firearms making and invention. It was around the year 1850, when he conceived the idea of the oval bore. Indeed, it is very slightly oval, almost imperceptibly and the rifling is very subtle and this rifle could easily be mistaken for a smooth bore. The rifling is also “gain twist”, meaning that the twist gets faster as the projectile approaches the muzzle. He believed that the oval bore was the future form all rifles and cannons should take due to the design’s inherent ability to mitigate the fowling that came from using black powder, as well as their accuracy. He would put his idea to the test when he entered the government trials for what would become the Pattern 1853. He would spend much of 1852 and 1853 in doing so. His oval bore proved more accurate and less prone to foul than the competition, though the very subtle rifling was prone to wear out sooner with much use than conventional rifling. His system was not ultimately adopted for the Pattern 1853 infantry rifle-musket, but it was adopted in smaller numbers for sapper muskets.

This example is a 50 bore, 2-band rifle, the type which could have been made and sold to volunteer units during this period. The Volunteer Movement was a response to the Crimean War as well as heightened tensions between England and France and the outbreak of war between France & Austria. England had a lot of territory to cover between the British Isles and its colonies, and there was imminent risk of being pulled into another conflict. This was a popular movement to create part-time units at home, similar to what early Americans might have considered militias or what we now call the National Guard, Home Guard, etc. These had a great deal of autonomy initially, though many were eventually folded into the regular British Army. The rifle has fantastic sights, the rear of which is marked “LANCASTER’S PATENT” like the top of the barrel. There is a thin gold line down the back of the sight as it lays down and another in its upright position. There is also a nipple cover on a chain that acts as a safety as well as protection against dry fire.

The overall condition is fine. Original blue finish. The action is strong. The bore is shiny bright. The stock is smooth and solid. There is a very slight V-shaped hairline crack emanating from the trigger guard tang. It is so slight as to not be tactile and it shows no movement even when the stock is intentionally flexed. This is a spectacular rifle and just about as rare as it gets. A neat piece of developmental firearms history!

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 36 inches.

Caliber: .453 (50 Bore)

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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ancestryguns

$3745

#200866
 

SOLD

Antique: Yes