The Evans repeating rifle is often considered to be one of the oddest rifles to ever be produced in the United States. The Evans was invented by Warren R. Evans, a dentist from Thomaston, Maine. With the help of his brother George, they perfected the rifle and started the "Evans Rifle Manufacturing Company" of Mechanic Falls, Maine in 1873. Their rifles were marketed by Merwin & Hulbert, who also invested into the company. The hope was that the rifle would be issued by the United States Army, but the rifle failed the standard dust test.
It was then offered as a sporting rifle. The rifle has a radial block receiver similar to the Spencer, but the rounds were fed from an Archimedean-screw magazine which formed the spine of the rifle stock and could hold up to 28 rounds. The fluted cartridge carrier made a quarter turn each time the lever was operated, feeding a new cartridge into the breech.
The company received numerous testimonials from its customers. One of the more colorful ones allegedly came from Kit Carson Jr.:
"At twenty paces, have, with this rifle, shot the eyebrows from my wife, and every night regularly, in the presence of an audience I shot an apple from her hand, a pipe from her mouth, a penny from her fingers, or snuff a candle from her hand. I think the Evans is the safest and most complete repeating system ever devised."
Kit Carson Jr. was the stage name of Jim Spleen from Kansas, who appeared with William "Buffalo Bill" F. Cody. Testimonials like this were great advertising and highly sought after by all the arms companies. The Evans repeating rifle was also used by Buffalo Bill and his friend and stage partner Texas Jack Omohundro, who said, "It shoots like a house on fire! I can clean out a whole band of Indians alone with it. I shall recommend them wherever I go."
Customers were generally pleased with the Evans accuracy and magazine capacity but were generally unimpressed with the gun's underpowered propriety cartridge. Requests soon reached the factory for a more powerful cartridge. George Evans listened and then went to work. The new cartridge, together with numerous improvements in the design, were combined to make the new model Evans repeating rifle. By the summer of 1877, the new model was perfected and put into production.
The new model is easily distinguished by its larger, more robust receiver and sliding dust cover over the ejection port. The front edge of the receiver is cut straight not scalloped as in the old and transition models. The new model was chambered for a 1 ½" long .44 caliber cartridge case. Previous models used a 1" long case of the same caliber. The increased length of the new cartridge necessitated a reduction in magazine capacity to only 26 rounds.
The New Model was well-received, but unfortunately by the time it was introduced the Evans Repeating rifle company had fallen on hard times. An economic depression hit the U.S. economy in 1873, the same year that Evans started his rifle company. The poor economy worsened throughout the 1870's and sales of the expensive Evan's Repeater began to suffer as a result. By the time the economy began to recover in 1879, Evans had already filed backruptcy.
Over the course of its six year production run, a total of almost 15,000 Evans repeating rifles were produced. The Evans Rifle Co. left behind a legacy of innovation and novelty - The Evans rifle had the greatest magazine capacity of any rifle mass-produced in the 19th century. To this day it remains the only firearm to have been designed and produced in the state of Maine.
Today, The Evans Rifle remains a fairly obscure weapon from the "Old West". With production totals pailing in comparison to its competitors like Winchester and Marlin, even those who are fairly well-versed in 19th Century firearms have often never even heard of the Evans. However, recently, the Evans has been enjoying a bit of a renaissance and has been turning up a bit more often in popular media: Wilfred Brimley's character was armed with an Evans Carbine in the movie Crossfire Trail and the gun has even made appaearances in popular video games included Red Dead Redemption.
This particular Evans Rifle is a "New Model" Sporting Rifle with a 30" barrel. It was produced sometime between 1877 and 1879; which classifies it as an "antique firearm"; meaning it can be shipped directly to your door without being transfered through an FFL holder (in most states - check your local laws). Only about 3,000 New Model Sporting Rifles were produced before the company went out of business in 1879, making this configuration fairly rare in comparison to the the models that preceded it.
As a "New Model" Evans, this rifle is chambered in .44 Evans "Long". The rotary helical magazine will hold 26 rounds of this powerful cartridge. The magazine is intact and in excellent working order, as is the rest of the gun's action. Its smooth and positive, with everything functioning as it should with no worn or damaged parts.
The barrel features a large percentage of its original factory bluing which has taken on a "plum" patina with age. The bore is very good with sharp rifling and some minor surface that should easily clean up with a brass brush and a some "elbow grease".
The stocks are very good with no damage other than a few handling marks. The forestock retains its original factory checkering, which is nice and sharp.
The furniture is intact and functional, including the front swivel and dust cover; which are often missing on Evans Sporting Rifles. The buttplate shows some pitting, but is otherwise in great shape.
This Evans would be a great shooter or collector's piece. Don't miss out on this iconic rifle!
