~ A Francis Innes .75 Cal Rifle - Fergusson Patent (avoidance) ~
The piece was made in 1787 by Francis Innes, of Edinburgh (stamped & proofed as such - all original). With mint a bore / rifling. It was made for a Scotts Colonel or Major back in the day.
This rifle is shooter grade. What Francis did in 1787 was both clever and naughty. He improved on the Fergusson Patent (as the there was an inherant weakness in the original design, which had a single rotary turn of the trigger guard. This action dropped the loading hatch, to reveal the top load hatch/hole on the original Fergusson). What Francis did, was to strengthen the under breach area and made the trigger guard a 5 rotation turn of the trigger guard (instead of the loose, leakey single turn thread seal system).
This 5 rotation action resulted in the complete ectraction of trigger guard. Plus the loading hatch was then revealed underneath, instead of on top on the barrel breach. This was a marked improvement and avoided the weakness of the tp of the breach. SO, it strengthenned the breach of the rifle and resulted in a much more efficient loading system, with none of the original flaws or weaknesses of the initial Fergusson rotary breach.
