EXTREMELY RARE BURGESS PUMP ACTION MAGAZINE RIFLE.

EXTREMELY RARE BURGESS PUMP ACTION MAGAZINE RIFLE. SN NONE VISIBLE. Cal. 44 WCF (44-40). Rare Burgess rifle with 24″ oct bbl, full tube magazine with half-nickel front sight and Winchester style semi-buckhorn rear sight. Receiver has relief milled sides with brass inlaid sighting plane over the receiver ring. Bolt is hand engraved on the top “BURGESS GUN CO. / BUFFALO, N.Y.U.S.A.” with small foliate arabesque engraved patterns to the front & back. Top of bolt is actually a dust cover cleverly mortised into the top edge of the receiver and attached to the bolt with a small screw at rear end. Mounted with very nicely figured American walnut with very fine checkered forearm and uncheckered straight stock with crescent steel buttplate. This buttplate is obviously something recycled as there is a welded up butt trap cover hole in the center and a welded up screw hole in the tang. This appears to be probably from a Winchester rifle, or possibly a Burgess lever action rifle. The operating mechanism of the pump action is released by firing or by means of a small lever in front of the trigger guard. The operating rod is the floorplate of the receiver and linked to the bolt, and to a sliding grip made of checkered gutta percha attached to a stamped sheet metal sleeve over the grip area. This pump action is unique among firearms and is only one of the over 500 firearms & improvements upon firearms patented by Andrew Burgess. Mr. Burgess was born Jan. 16, 1837 in Dresden, NY and died Dec. 19, 1908. As a young man he & his brother were hired by Matthew Brady, the renowned photographer in about 1855. Brady’s eyesight was failing and most of the famous Brady photographs known today were taken by Andrew & his brother, William, including some of the more famous Lincoln photographs, especially the one on today’s $5.00 Bill. The Burgess brothers were photographers under the Brady name through the Civil War until war between the French & Mexico broke out in late 1864. Andrew traveled to Mexico to photograph that conflict and returned to the U.S. in 1867 resuming his partnership with Brady. In 1870 he was the photographer for a team of scientists sent to Sicily to observe a solar eclipse where he became seriously ill but still managed to do the photography. He remained in Italy for a length of time after the Sicilian expedition and toured Europe extensively during which time he probably filmed the Franco-Prussian War. During his tours he visited and discussed firearms design with a number of European manufacturers and upon returning to the U.S. in 1871 began seriously designing and re-designing firearms. His first patent, an improvement on the Peabody rifle, was issued Sept. 19, 1871. From that point forward the tremendous volume of his patents all involved magazine rifles and primarily lever action and pump action rifles. On Jan. 7, 1873, Mr. Burgess was issued patent #134,589 which was to have great repercussions throughout the firearms world which was incorporated into a number of different designs, including the now famous Marlin Model 1881. That patent is still in use in Marlin firearms today. Mr. Burgess also had patents that were incorporated in a number of Whitneyville rifles and the Colt-Burgess Lever Action rifle, all of which, in one manner or another, were either purchased or persuaded to stop production by the overbearing Winchester Company. One of the designs Mr. Burgess had patented was the locking mechanism used in the 1881 Marlin and a similar lock, apparently redesigned by prolific inventor John M. Browning was being introduced by Winchester as their Model 1893 pump action shotgun. With the acquisition of Mr. Burgess’ designs when Winchester purchased the Whitneyville Company, Mr. Burgess’ income was greatly reduced so he organized & built the Burgess Gun Co. of Buffalo, NY and began manufacturing in 1893. His first product was a 12 ga. shotgun based on the design found in this rifle which was extremely efficient & fast. When the shotgun, or in this case the rifle, is fired, just at the instant before the gas pressure in the bore is relieved, the breech block unlatches and the pressure forces the slide to the rear ejecting the empty and all the shooter has to do is move the slide forward for the next shot making this rifle/shotgun a sort of manual semi-auto. The rifle on this design was introduced in 1896, initially in calibers 30-30, 44-40 and 30-40 Burgess. Winchester, apparently feeling the pinch of competition to their new Model 1893 shotgun, and later the model 1897 by the Burgess shotgun, began negotiating to purchase the Burgess Gun Company and, with Mr. Burgess’s ill health, ultimately were successful in buying him out in 1899. Winchester may have produced a few more Burgess firearms out of leftover parts but quickly shelved the design and this great Burgess product ceased to exist. The saga of Andrew Burgess does not stop there however. His designs continue in almost every Marlin lever action firearm produced to this day. Conversation between this cataloger and several rather senior dealers and collectors has disclosed that none of us had previously seen a Burgess rifle with an oct bbl. Only a few had ever seen any Burgess rifles and they had all been with rnd bbls. CONDITION: Fine to very fine. Bbl & magazine tube retain strong orig blue with a few spots of moderate pitting on the side flats that have been cleaned with touch-up blue added. Magazine tube has only a couple of small spots. Receiver retains 65-70% thinning orig blue with a few spots of moderate pitting, deeper in a couple of spots. Steel slide retains 15-20% orig blue with balance cleaned to a light patina. Gutta percha grip is extremely fine. Wood is sound with minor storage & handling nicks & scratches and retains most of its orig piano varnish finish. Mechanics are crisp, very bright shiny bore. 4-40259 JR314 (12,500-17,500)

Auction: Firearms - Fall 2010

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	2135	$16,675.00	EXTREMELY RARE BURGESS PUMP ACTION MAGAZINE RIFLE. SN NONE VISIBLE. Cal. 44 WCF (44-40). Rare Burgess rifle with 24″ oct bbl, full tube magazine with half-nickel front sight and Winchester style semi-buckhorn rear sight. Receiver has relief milled sides with brass inlaid sighting plane over the receiver ring. Bolt is hand engraved on the top “BURGESS GUN CO. / BUFFALO, N.Y.U.S.A.” with small foliate arabesque engraved patterns to the front & back. Top of bolt is actually a dust cover cleverly mortised into the top edge of the receiver and attached to the bolt with a small screw at rear end. Mounted with very nicely figured American walnut with very fine checkered forearm and uncheckered straight stock with crescent steel buttplate. This buttplate is obviously something recycled as there is a welded up butt trap cover hole in the center and a welded up screw hole in the tang. This appears to be probably from a Winchester rifle, or possibly a Burgess lever action rifle. The operating mechanism of the pump action is released by firing or by means of a small lever in front of the trigger guard. The operating rod is the floorplate of the receiver and linked to the bolt, and to a sliding grip made of checkered gutta percha attached to a stamped sheet metal sleeve over the grip area. This pump action is unique among firearms and is only one of the over 500 firearms & improvements upon firearms patented by Andrew Burgess. Mr. Burgess was born Jan. 16, 1837 in Dresden, NY and died Dec. 19, 1908. As a young man he & his brother were hired by Matthew Brady, the renowned photographer in about 1855. Brady’s eyesight was failing and most of the famous Brady photographs known today were taken by Andrew & his brother, William, including some of the more famous Lincoln photographs, especially the one on today’s $5.00 Bill. The Burgess brothers were photographers under the Brady name through the Civil War until war between the French & Mexico broke out in late 1864. Andrew traveled to Mexico to photograph that conflict and returned to the U.S. in 1867 resuming his partnership with Brady. In 1870 he was the photographer for a team of scientists sent to Sicily to observe a solar eclipse where he became seriously ill but still managed to do the photography. He remained in Italy for a length of time after the Sicilian expedition and toured Europe extensively during which time he probably filmed the Franco-Prussian War. During his tours he visited and discussed firearms design with a number of European manufacturers and upon returning to the U.S. in 1871 began seriously designing and re-designing firearms. His first patent, an improvement on the Peabody rifle, was issued Sept. 19, 1871. From that point forward the tremendous volume of his patents all involved magazine rifles and primarily lever action and pump action rifles. On Jan. 7, 1873, Mr. Burgess was issued patent #134,589 which was to have great repercussions throughout the firearms world which was incorporated into a number of different designs, including the now famous Marlin Model 1881. That patent is still in use in Marlin firearms today. Mr. Burgess also had patents that were incorporated in a number of Whitneyville rifles and the Colt-Burgess Lever Action rifle, all of which, in one manner or another, were either purchased or persuaded to stop production by the overbearing Winchester Company. One of the designs Mr. Burgess had patented was the locking mechanism used in the 1881 Marlin and a similar lock, apparently redesigned by prolific inventor John M. Browning was being introduced by Winchester as their Model 1893 pump action shotgun. With the acquisition of Mr. Burgess’ designs when Winchester purchased the Whitneyville Company, Mr. Burgess’ income was greatly reduced so he organized & built the Burgess Gun Co. of Buffalo, NY and began manufacturing in 1893. His first product was a 12 ga. shotgun based on the design found in this rifle which was extremely efficient & fast. When the shotgun, or in this case the rifle, is fired, just at the instant before the gas pressure in the bore is relieved, the breech block unlatches and the pressure forces the slide to the rear ejecting the empty and all the shooter has to do is move the slide forward for the next shot making this rifle/shotgun a sort of manual semi-auto. The rifle on this design was introduced in 1896, initially in calibers 30-30, 44-40 and 30-40 Burgess. Winchester, apparently feeling the pinch of competition to their new Model 1893 shotgun, and later the model 1897 by the Burgess shotgun, began negotiating to purchase the Burgess Gun Company and, with Mr. Burgess’s ill health, ultimately were successful in buying him out in 1899. Winchester may have produced a few more Burgess firearms out of leftover parts but quickly shelved the design and this great Burgess product ceased to exist. The saga of Andrew Burgess does not stop there however. His designs continue in almost every Marlin lever action firearm produced to this day. Conversation between this cataloger and several rather senior dealers and collectors has disclosed that none of us had previously seen a Burgess rifle with an oct bbl. Only a few had ever seen any Burgess rifles and they had all been with rnd bbls. CONDITION: Fine to very fine. Bbl & magazine tube retain strong orig blue with a few spots of moderate pitting on the side flats that have been cleaned with touch-up blue added. Magazine tube has only a couple of small spots. Receiver retains 65-70% thinning orig blue with a few spots of moderate pitting, deeper in a couple of spots. Steel slide retains 15-20% orig blue with balance cleaned to a light patina. Gutta percha grip is extremely fine. Wood is sound with minor storage & handling nicks & scratches and retains most of its orig piano varnish finish. Mechanics are crisp, very bright shiny bore. 4-40259 JR314 (12,500-17,500) Auction: Firearms - Fall 2010 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

.red{fill:#B50938;} .white{fill:#FFFFFF;} .blue{fill:#005596;}