This American muzzleloading air rifle dates to around the mid-19th century. It features an octagon barrel chambered in .40 caliber with five-groove rifling, dovetail mounted German silver bead front sight and dovetail mounted notch rear sight, a bar hammer style lock with external mainspring, double set triggers, half length walnut stock with checkered forend and wrist, brass furniture including a horse head patchbox with engraving, and a large brass ball reservoir. "Wind guns" had several advantages over conventional firearms including that they produced quieter, smokeless, quicker to reload, and relatively unaffected by rain. They also required less cleaning since they did not require corrosive black powder. Provenance: The Dr. Robert D. Beeman Collection