G.W.Morse, A. Burgess rifle

O

olfred

Inactive
Hi Harley. This has been in my family since who flung the chunk. And in very good shape. What I have is:a single shot rifle, .45-70, lever action, oct. rec., round bbl,@27 3/8". Marked on rec. " G.W Morse patented oct 28 1856." Marked on back behind the hammer says "A. Burgess patented oct 7 1875, and patented oct 19 1875."
When you throw the lever down, like , a hammer block locking mechanism drops down, ( uhh, breech block? ) then the top slide on the reciever slides back and cocks the hammer at the same time. Then you load the cartridge, pull the lever back up and the top slide on the reciever slides foreward. Locking block ( breech block? ) pops back up and the rifle is in battery. Uhh, I mean ready to fire. What do you think of Grandad's rifle? Any info (like what it might be worth, for insurance purposes.) will be appreciated.
Regards;
olfred
 
Are you sure on your patent Dates? Is one of them Jan. 7th 1873 instead of Oct 7th, 1875. It really makes a lot of Different. Also you stated " load the cartridge ? is it a single shot or repeater. A Picture would be very helpful, because there were several variations of the Whitney-Burgess-Morse rifles.
 
It sure sounds like the so-called Whitney-Burgess-Morse rifle, aka the Whitney-Morse, but that rifle is a repeater. Are you sure there is not a tubular magazine under the barrel, or a place where one used to be? As RJay says, a picture would help.

Jim
 
There is evidence that some early production Burgess-Morse guns were top loaders, although it appears many were returned to the factory to be modified to the side gate loading mechanism. The guns which were top loaders appear to all be carbine type, so the wood would run the full length of the barrel and you might not necessarily see the magazine tube. if this is the case you would have a very rare model, even if it is not a top loader you still have a gun with total production of about 3000. Values for Burgess-Morse guns vary on condition but range from a few hundered to over $20,000.00

Good luck

J. Morse
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top