Welcome to at this time’s Photo of the Day! Right here we’ve got a P.W. Porter Third Mannequin turret rifle, serial quantity 1228, manufactured by George P. Foster in Taunton, Massachusetts in the course of the 1850s. This is without doubt one of the most mechanically uncommon percussion rifles ever made – that includes a vertical turret as an alternative of a horizontal cylinder. Parry W. Porter patented his turret design as an alternative choice to typical revolving rifles. The turret stood upright with chambers organized in a vertical circle, rotated by a lever motion that additionally cocked the hammer. George Foster manufactured these beneath Porter’s patent in restricted numbers by the 1850s.
This instance reveals Third Mannequin options – percussion nipples on the turret and an angular facet hammer, sometimes seen within the 680-1225 serial quantity vary per Flayderman’s guides. At quantity 1228, that is late manufacturing. It features a loading lever, which differs from strict Third Mannequin definition however reveals Foster was nonetheless experimenting with the design.
The sights are offset to the left to clear the vertical turret. The turret is numbered 1127 whereas the barrel, body, and lock carry matching 1228, indicating the turret was changed or renumbered throughout its working life. Foster produced only some hundred Porter turret rifles throughout all variations. The vertical turret made the rifle cumbersome and unbalanced, and the complexity meant extra potential failures. Manufacturing numbers stayed low, and by the 1860s when metallic cartridge repeaters arrived, revolving rifle designs of any kind have been out of date.
Most of our POTDs make the most of photos from our associates at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms public sale in america. Take a while to browse their current auctions – who is aware of, possibly you’ll discover a piece of historical past to take residence!
Scarce P. W. Porter “Third Mannequin” Revolving Turret Percussion Rifle | Rock Island Public sale, www.rockislandauction.com/element/1049/1324/p-w-porter-third-model-revolving-turret-percussion-rifle. Accessed 21 Dec. 2025.
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