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One rotation of the trigger guard provided access to the breech to load powder and ball.
1st- He fired during four or five minutes at a target, at two hundred yards distance, at the rate of four shots each minute... 2nd- He fired six shots
in one minute... 3rd- He fired four times per minute, advancing at the same time at the rate of four miles in the hour... 4th- He poured a bottle of water into the pan and barrel of the piece when loaded, so as to wet every grain of powder, and in less than half a minute fired with her as well as ever without extracting the ball. He also hit the bull’s eye at 100 yards, lying with his back on the ground; and, notwithstanding the unequalness of the wind and wetness of the weather he only missed the target three times during the whole course of the experiments. The captain has since taken out a patent for the said improvements.” After this demonstration, Lord Townsend, the Master General of Ordnance, directed one hundred rifles to be made for British Military use and for Patrick Ferguson to oversee their manufacturing. In 1777 Captain Ferguson would be put in command of a rifle corps to go fight in the Revolutionary War, carrying
with .615 caliber bullets as used in the military pattern rifles (they
have the same .65 bore diameter). Border and scroll engraving
is seen on the breech area of the barrel, lock, hammer, breech screw
plug, trigger guard and brass buttplate. Silver blade front and fixed notch rear sight ahead of the breech plug. The top of the barrel is marked with London crown proofs, “(star)/RW” makers mark and “LONDON” behind the notch rear sight. The lock is signed “Barnett” in fancy script at the center below the flashpan, equipped with a roller frizzen and is unmarked on the inside. William Wilson and Robert Barnett originally apprenticed under Richard Wilson (father of William, passed away in 1766), who was a maker
CONDITION:
Very good, exhibits
strong traces of original
brown finish mixed with brown
patina overall, a few occasional patches
of very light pitting, and crisp markings and
engraving. The brass fittings retain a pleasing original golden aged patina. Stock is very good as restored, with
military pattern Ferguson rifles. Ferguson’s men would see action at the battle of Brandywine all the way through to the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780, where Ferguson was surrounded and killed. This rifle was not one of the military issue rifles and does not have a fitting for a bayonet lug,
but appears to have been made as a sporting piece as mentioned above. It features Ferguson’s patent multi-start screw breech plug system, which allows opening of the breech with one turn. There are known to be slight variations in design by the different makers of the limited known surviving examples of Ferguson rifles, and this example has an eleven-thread breech plug without Ferguson’s improved grease slots on the sides of the plug. The barrel features eight-groove rifling with thin grooves and wide lands, measures at approximately .65 caliber and is likely intended for use
of sporting guns and British Ordnance guns. Richard Wilson passed away prior to the manufacture of this rifle, and his son William Wilson (I) took over the Wilson firm and would continue using Richard Wilson’s “(star)/ RW” makers mark as seen at the breech of this example. At the time this Ferguson pattern rifle would have been made (post-1777) William Wilson would have been in a partnership together with Barnett; explaining the Wilson maker marked barrel and Barnett signed lock. William Wilson’s only recorded apprentice was Thomas Barnett (son of Robert), who was turned over to William in 1780 until he was later made free of the Wilson company in 1786, continuing the Barnett line.
replaced forward sections of wood to the rear of the muzzle, some light handling marks, a few scattered moderate pressure dents, a few cracks on the bottom around the breech plug (a known occurrence on Fergusons) and running beneath the lock, minor cracks at various edges, slightly undersized at the edges of the buttplate, and an otherwise attractive figure overall. Absent ramrod. Mechanically excellent, the threaded breech plug operates smoothly with tight fitment. With only a few Ferguson pattern rifles of any kind left, mostly residing in museums, this is a truly unique opportunity to own this most historic rifle!
Estimate: 20,000 - 35,000
The Ferguson Patent was developed for military use, and allowed drastically faster reloading and ability to reload from a prone position.
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