This is a very rare example of a Farquhar-Hill semi-automatic rifle that was manufactured circa 1917. This rifle was originally developed in England by Colonel Moubray Farquhar and noted British gunsmith Arthur Hill. The original patent was issued circa 1908 as a recoil-operated system. This initial design was chambered in 8mm, which proved to be way too unreliable and was eventually replaced with a revised design circa 1917-18 with these models chambered in .303 British. The British initially ordered a small quantity of these Farquhar-Hill rifles in late WWI; however, due to the end of the war, the British Government canceled the contract after only a very few examples were produced. It did see very limited use towards the end of WWI with British aviators (observers and rear gunners) as an adjunct to the forward firing fixed and rear firing light machine guns. This practice was similar to the practice used by the German with the Mauser Selbstlader and Mondragon rifles, both of which also utilized large capacity magazines. This use of the self-loading large capacity rifles was an enormous advantage over manually operated rifles and semi-automatic pistols that were used during WWI. This is a fairly advanced and unique designed weapon for the 1915-18 time frame. In design the gas piston system is mounted approximately 9 inches from the muzzle on the underside of the barrel. It is comprised of a fixed gas block mounted on the barrel with a screw in gas cylinder combined with an adjustable (screw-in) gas plug with a multi-spring recoil system. Upon firing, the piston would compress two springs, a mainspring and a piston spring. The mainspring was held captive by a rear latch, which did not release until the piston was at its full rearward travel. At that point, the front of the mainspring was locked in place by a second latch and the rear was released to cycle the bolt backwards and eject the empty cartridge. This released the front mainspring latch, allowing it to return to its extended position, ready for another firing cycle. The bolt was pushed forward by a separate spring, as was the gas piston. Using three springs in the gun instead of just one added to its complexity, which allowed it to have a minimal recoil while still allowing it to function correctly. It used a conventional turn-bolt design with front lugs, where the front portion (approximately 1/3) of the bolt rotated to unlock the bolt from the vertically designed locking lugs. As noted, it is fitted with a matching 19 round drum magazine. The rifle itself is marked on the left side with "T & L.M. Ltd", and below that is numbered "28". It has matching numbers (28) on the flat of the pistol grip, the gas cylinder and gas plug as well as the back side of the 19 round drum magazine, with no other markings or serial numbers visible. It is fitted with a walnut buttstock and an adjustable forward mounted vertical pistol grip. The grip can be moved forward or to the rear to accommodate the firer. It is fitted with a Pattern 14 type front sight with a folding, fully adjustable rear sight also similar to the Pattern 14 rifle.

Extremely fine with 85% of the original blued finish overall showing minor edge and high spot wear from hand cycling. The complete internal bolt assembly is still in the white. The drum magazine retains approximately 60% of it blue finish overall with most of the wear being on the outer circumference of the magazine. The buttstock shows minor handling marks and light pressure dents on the sides from field/handling use over the years with some light vise marks on each side above the trigger guard. Certainly a very unique and short lived early British semi-automatic rifle.