Original Item: Only One Available. Just purchased at a recent military auction! This is a very nice "New England" style underhammer percussion target rifle, complete with its original long ramrod. These could be used for hunting, but more often were a pastime for the more wealthy, who would use these for target shooting. Somewhat delicate and quite heavy, they were not not really hunting friendly. Still they could be used for competitions shooting fowl, and there is a nice "double bird" inlay on the left butt stock cheek piece.

This lovely rifle has a .40" caliber 26 inch long fully octagonal barrel, with a muzzle turned down for a bullet starter. This would add the rifling grooves to the bullet, so that the six groove rifling would not be worn down by the loading process. This does not seem to have happened much, as the bore is in excellent condition, clean with bright finish and crisp rifling. The lock is very sensitive, and has a long rod trigger, so even without a "set trigger" it is pretty close to a "hair trigger", and fires very easily.

The underhammer lock design is perfect for a target gun, as it avoids interfering with the sighting of the rifle, and the usual issue of the cap nipple falling off would be much less of a problem in a stationary position. The rifle has "German Silver" cupronickel alloy fittings, with a lovely brass patch box on the right side of the butt, which still contains multiple original patches. It also has it's original heavy wooden 36 1/4" ramrod marked JAMES NOVINGER, possibly a previous owner of this rifle.

The rifle features a nice long hood protected bead front sight, and a rear aperture "peep" sight, which has a sliding range adjustment, that engages grooves on the back of the wrist. It is most likely custom made to order, and the only markings on the entire rifle are 6 --- 3 --- 3 on the bottom of the barrel.

A very nice example of a mid 19th Century "New England" target rifle, ready to add to your collection!

Specifications-

Year of Manufacture: c.1850
Caliber: approx .40" - 6 Groove Rifling
Cartridge Type: Ball and Powder
Barrel Length: 26 Inches
Overall Length: 42 1/2 Inches
Action type: Underhammer Percussion Lock
Feed System: Muzzle Loading

NOTE: International orders of antique firearms MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services (courier). USPS Priority Mail international will not accept these.

IMA considers all of our antique guns as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms. No FFL, C&R or any license is required to possess, transport, sell or trade Antique guns. All rifles and muskets sold by IMA that were manufactured prior to 1899 are considered Antiques by the US BATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Therefore, all of IMA's Antique guns may be shipped to all US States and most nations around the world.

These antique guns are not sold in "live" condition. They are sold as collector's items or as "wall hangers". Any attempt at restoring an antique gun to be operational is strongly discouraged and is done so at the risk of the customer. By purchasing an antique gun from IMA you thereby release IMA, its employees and corporate officers from any and all liability associated with use of our Antique guns.

Pre-1899 Manufacture, no licenses required, allowed to ship to almost any deliverable address across the globe. Please note that for international shipping, these MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services.