Marked "J.W. MULLINS" on top of the bolt. John W. Mullins was a gunsmith in London, KY until moving to Fariston, KY in 1890. He held several patents on guns. Numbers 349,282, issued 14 September, 1886 and 373,410, issued 15 November, 1887, covered the two actions he submitted to the "Board on Magazine Rifles" in 1891. They had a standard bolt action with a combination extractor/dust cover on top of the bolt. The magazine was a rotary type with the cartridges entering at the lower right side of the receiver. The barrels for the trial rifles were furnished by Springfield Armory as most gunsmiths did not have the capability of making them to the Ordnance Department specifications. The cost, $15 each, caused several prospective entrants to abandon their attempt. This, the only one to reach testing status, ". . . Did not close without special pressure. Stock around magazine badly cracked and split. Test suspended." (Report of the Board on Magazine Rifles, USGPO, 1892, p. 171) This shows the repairs from the rear of the action on the right side and under the two iron plates on the sides of the action. One of the complaints when Mullins first submitted his rifles to the board was that they did not have a cutoff to allow single shots while holding the magazine in reserve, but this could have been corrected as the rifles would be returned to the inventors for repairs or alterations. The forearm tip with its bayonet lug and the buttplate with the hole for the oiler appear to be from a Krag and may have been parts furnished by Springfield at additional cost. A list of available parts were furnished to the entrants.

Very good to fine with smooth brown patina overall. The wood has normal handling marks. The action is fine. PROVENANCE Edwards