These distinctive American revolving rifles were manufactured c. 1835 to 1850 by several gunmakers based on the designs of John and James Miller, and are commonly referred to as Billinghurst rifles as that was the most well known and prolific maker of them. This rifle was manufactured by Benjamin Bigelow of Marysville, California. The cylinder functions through manual rotation by hand. The octagon barrel has a dovetailed blade front sight and dovetailed buckhorn notch rear sight, and is maker marked "B.BIGELOW. MARYSVILLE. CAL" on top. Ramrod mounted on the bottom of the barrel, walnut forend with classic pewter cap, and walnut buttstock with iron furniture. Provenance: The Charles Marx Collection

Good, with artificial brown patina visible on the replacement lockplate and hammer, some scattered patches of mild oxidation and light pitting on the balance. Stock is good as re-oiled, with some scattered dents and scratches, a few minor small chips around the lock, a few minor cracks at some of the edges, a few spliced repairs visible at the right rear of the forearm, and defined edges. Mechanically fine.