These rifles are known by many names. They were made under the 1 June, 1852 patent of Henry S. North and Chauncy D. Skinner, so they are sometimes called "North & Skinner". They were made by the firm of North & Savage (same North with Edward S. Savage) and are sometimes called by that name. The latter firm became Savage Revolving Firearms Co. so they are most often simply called "Savage". The action of these early revolving rifles is more complicated than the later revolvers. There is a wedge behind the cylinder. When the lever below the cylinder is pulled down, it also pulls the wedge down and allows the spring around the cylinder pin to push the cylinder away from the barrel, disengaging the protruding mouth of the chambers from the barrel. When it is loose, a tooth on the wedge engages the track on the back of the cylinder causing it to turn to the next chamber. A link fastened to the lever behind the wedge cocks the hammer. When the lever is returned, the wedge forces it tight against the rear of the barrel. There are no external marks visible except the number "1" stamped on top of the receiver at the barrel junction. Vestiges of the address are barely visible in front of the rear sight. An assembly number "240" appears on the cylinder, cylinder pin, the bottom of the barrel under the cylinder pin, wedge, lever, buttplate, hammer, and right side plate internally. It also appears on the rear sight leaf but the 4 is stamped upside down. The number 114 appears on the right side of the lever and cocking link,195 on the left side plate and 69 on the trigger. The trigger and hammer both have two pivot holes so they can be assembled on another frame or frames. The different assembly numbers indicate a cleanup of factory parts or a period factory repair. The cylinder pin wedge, which goes into the slot to the rear of the recoil shield, is missing. The left wood to side plate screw, trigger spring, and trigger spring screw are also missing. The round brass patch box is mounted on the left side of the butt stock instead of the right where it is normally found. The buttplate is iron. Only a few hundred of these were made.

Good as an old refinish with mixed scattered spots, surface rust and light pitting. The wood is cracked and splintered at the wrist due to a design flaw. The stock, very thin at this point, was fastened to the side plates with screws on the inside of the stock so removing the stock will break it unless the side plate screws are removed first. Obviously this did not happen and there are several splinters missing in this area. There are also drying cracks on the stock near the buttplate. The stock retains considerable original varnish. The trigger spring is missing but otherwise the action is functional.