Designed by brothers Charles and Sebre Howard and first patented in 1862, this is a single shot lever action produced by the Whitneyville Armory between 1866 and 1870. It is a really neat compact design that is all contained within a tube. The system was made in rifle, sporting rifle, and shotgun configurations, with a total production of not more than about 1700. The rifle pattern guns, like this one, were chambered for .44 Rimfire. A prototype military configuration example was tested unsuccessfully by the US military in 1867.
Semiauto Rifles
Throwback Thursday: The Nifty Hybrid-Design HAC-7 Battle Rifle
The Halloway Arms Company HAC-7 was a very interesting hybrid design that incorporated elements of the FAL, AR10, and AK designs. It needed a bit more development to really work out the kinks, though, and […]
Revolver
Allen & Thurber Pepperbox at RIA
If the Colt Paterson was the high-end classy choice for a sidearm in the mid-1800s, the Allen & Thurber pepperbox would have been the simple working man’s alternative. While Colt was working for military contracts, […]
Book review
Book Review: Random Shots – Episodes in the Life of a Weapons Developer
I first ran across Roy Rayle’s autobiographical account of his time as administrator of the Springfield Armory R&D Division while I was researching development of the M14 rifle. Rayle was a young mechanical engineer working […]
Everybody was looking to create the next great rifle sensation and hopefully obtain large lucrative military contracts. One of the more unusual designs I have ever seen. Someone ought to bring that back as a real production rifle for reenactors. They sould try the same reproduction of the Evans rifles.