The Jennings rifles were designed by Lewis Jennings. It is considered to be an improvement of the Hunt Repeating Rifle, but the only Hunt design characteristics kept were the sliding internal bolt, the tubular magazine, the automatic pill primer, and the "Rocket Ball" cartridge. They were manufactured by Robbins & Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont, in 1848-1851, and production is believed to have been limited to less then 1,000, including both the repeating rifles and breech loaders. Benjamin Tyler Henry (the namesake of the Henry rifle), Horace Smith, and Daniel Wesson were also involved. Smith's later revision of the design, the Smith-Jennings, was also manufactured by Robbins & Lawrence for a brief period around 1851, and Smith and Wesson later partnered to manufacture the Smith & Wesson lever action pistols which eventually evolved into the Volcanic pistols and carbines and subsequently the Henry rifle and Winchester Model 1866. Making the Jennings rifle a "great-grandfather" of the Winchester rifles. The connection with Winchester and Smith & Wesson has long made these rifles very desirable. This example has a small brass blade front sight, notch rear sight, scroll engraving on the hammer and barrel at the breech,"595" on the lower tang, and a German silver oval inlay on the left side of the stock. It has been converted to a muzzle loader in the usual fashion: many of the action components have been removed and a traditional breech plug has been installed at the breech.

Fair, showing mostly a smooth brown patina with some scattered light pitting throughout. The wood has some scattered minor dings and scratches and a hairline crack on either side of the lower tang. Mechanically excellent.