doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Opinions on WHO made this gun?

The sculpting of the breech balls, the shape of the lockplates and the forearm lever all look Parker Bros. Most of the rest looks Lefever to me, though the few Lefever hammer guns I have pictures of have plungers that angle down rather then straight in to the primer like this gun.

US patent #50,432 was issued to Westley Richards of Birmingham Eng Oct 10, 1865. It covered the ordinary Doll's Head, though not so called in the patent, with a longitudinal sliding locking bolt engaging the Doll's Head from the rear.
As stated previously Lefever patented the square shoulders, he made no claim as to have patented the Doll's Head itself, No more than Samuel Colt claimed to have patented "The Revolver", he only Claimed to have improved it, which he did.
Don't know if this gun may have done double duty as a target rifle or not. Many Black Powder match shooters of the day breech loaded a charged cartridge case & muzzle loaded the bullet. Some breech seated the bullet & then loaded the charged case behind it. They often fired an entire match, using only one case. It was reprimed & charged with powder for each shot. They felt this gave them more uniformity than using a different case for each shot.

piper, sights on this combo gun are not target/match grade, yet false muzzle implies prep for that purpose, as you suggest above...perhaps a vernier tang sight installation was planned, but never happened? if so, that could be unique...have never seen another combo gun with false muzzle...have you?

and deep grooves in false muzzle suggest rifle barrel is grooved for thick paper patched bullets?

No can't say as I have, but that is the only use I am familiar with for a false muzzle, ie you would only use a false muzzle to muzzle load the bullet. It would never be used with a fully self contained cartridge. I am in full agreement that a drilling in 12x12x38-55 one would think this to have been a hunting gun & would have only been used with "Cartridges". As it is fitted for this false muzzle then obviously it was intended by its owner or planned by its maker to see some use where it would be desirable to muzzle load the bullet. Also I am in full agreement the sights do not look to be target quality, but I could think of no other purpose for muzzle loading the bullet.

Some Lefever double rifles were equipped with false muzzles but were not target rifles. Nameless Lefevers are out there in fair numbers, and this is apparently one of them.