William Billinghurst of Rochester, New York, was one of the most famous firearms makers of his day and is particularly well-known for his revolving rifles based on the Miller patent. Rather than percussion caps, small "pills" containing the fulminate are retained in the circular holes at the rear of the cylinder. This example is built similar to a classic half-stock muzzleloading rifle and has an octagon barrel marked: "W. BILLINGHURST ROCHESTER. N.Y." on top and fitted with a nickel-silver blade front sight and a dovetailed notch rear sight. The manually revolved, seven-shot cylinder has serrations for grip. The back action lock, breech, tangs, and furniture have light engraving. Provenance: The Mark Aziz Collection; Property of a Gentleman

Fine. The rifle retains 60% plus of the original blue on the barrel with some fading mostly on the breech. There are also strong patterns of muted original case colors. The engraving remains crisp. Aside from a chip at the toe and a pinned hairline crack above the lock, the stock is also fine and has some light scratches and dings and strong varnish finish. Mechanically fine.