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LOT 1127
Very Rare Centerfire LeMat “Grape Shot” Combination Revolving Carbine - Serial no. 140, 44/20 cal., 23 1/8 inch part octagon and 23 1/8 inch round bbl., brown/bright finish, walnut stock. The centerfire carbines manufactured in the late 1860s to the 1880s are very rare; production totals were likely very low, possibly only
a few hundred, and there are very few surviving examples. Cartridge loading revolving rifles, carbines, and shotguns never achieved great popularity and were essentially obsolete when compared to repeating arms manufactured by Winchester and others in the same period. Similar LeMat centerfire carbines are illustrated and described in “LeMat: The Man, The Gun” by Forgett and Serpette where they are noted as chambered for
12 mm cartridges and 15.2 mm shot shells (approximately .44 caliber and 20 gauge). There is a central loading gate at the back for the shotgun barrel and another loading gate on the lower right for the cylinder. The blade front sight is on the upper barrel band, and the two-leaf rear sight has 100, 200, 300, and 400 marked notches, a small star above “TD” on the left side of the base, and a circled “RD” on the right. There is also a notch rear sight on top of the recoil shield. The upper barrel is marked “COLONEL LE MAT. PATENT” ahead of the two-leaf rear sight. The right of the barrel has a “crown/N” proof. Serial number “140” marked on the right of the frame and “2” on the various components. The flat fronted trigger guard has a spur at the front to aid in holding the carbine without placing a hand in front of the cylinder and has a lanyard ring on the right side. Absent front sling swivel, with a rear sling swivel located on the bottom of the buttstock.