Robert Liddle and Charles van Buren Kaeding purchased the Bogart Brothers Sportsmen's Emporium in 1859. The firm was initially known as R. Liddle & Co., and this rifle was almost certainly manufactured before 1866 when Kaeding became an active partner and the name changed to Liddle & Kaeding. Robert Liddle was a Baltimore trained gunsmith who immigrated from England, and the firm did manufacture some of their own weapons and equipment and employed a number of gunsmiths. They are also known to have sold Henry rifles, Slotter & Co. copies of Henry Deringer's famous pistols, and other arms manufactured in the East and were the largest firearms dealers in the Bay Area in the 1870s. The name changed back to R. Liddle & Co. when Kaeding left the company in 1889 and eventually closed in 1898. The barrel is equipped with a false muzzle, German silver blade front sight, and a long U-notch sporting rear sight (elevator absent) and is marked "R. LIDDLE & Co. SAN-FRANCISCO. CAST STEEL" between the rear sight and breech. The other components have no visible markings and are casehardened. It is also equipped with double set triggers, a spurred trigger guard with scrolling grip extension, a crescent rifle buttplate, and a nicely figured half stock with pewter forend cap, checkered wrist, and no cheekpiece.

Very fine overall with 80% the original blue finish remaining with the balance having faded to an even plum brown along the barrel, the 75% vivid original case colors, minor spotting, some discoloration on the trigger guard, cracks in rear sight base, crisp checkering on the wrist, distinct markings, attractive figure in the butt, and general mild scrapes and dings. Mechanically fine. Overall, this is a very attractive mid-19th century American sporting rifle sold by one of West's great arms dealers.