James Whittemore held many patents for firearms. His early patents, issued when he was in Augusta, Maine, resulted in guns submitted to the various Ordnance Trials. This bolt action rifle has a magazine tube located under the barrel with the loading gate built into the front end of the trigger plate. The rear half of the bolt rotates to retract the firing pin and unlock the bolt. The front half of the bolt, a separate piece, slides in a track and does not rotate. The hammer, which is mounted in the upper tang of the receiver, can be cocked by pulling the bolt to the rear or separately, by hand. A cutoff switch to keep the magazine full while using the rifle for single shots is located between the trigger guard bolt and the loading port. The barrel, barrel bands, sights and buttplate are all Springfield Model 1879. The rear barrel band is missing. The stock is of the same pattern but does not have the cutout for the lock plate. Because there is no room for one due to the magazine, the forearm was not cut for a ramrod.

Fine, with 80% blue on the barrel, mostly gray on the action. The wood is very good. A crack has opened along the join line for the magazine tube, from the loading port to the rear barrel band. There are two age cracks at the buttplate. Mechanically fine. PROVENANCE Dowd Auction, 1975