Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have an unusually fancy underhammer percussion buggy rifle. This combines the practical concept of a takedown rifle for carriage travel with silver mounts and game scene engraving that wouldn’t look out of place on a European sporting rifle. Buggy rifles were popular from the 1830s through 1850s as compact firearms that could be broken down for storage under a carriage seat or in a traveler’s bag. The underhammer design kept things simple and low-profile – no external hammer to snag, and the lock mechanism was dead reliable. These were working guns for people who traveled backcountry roads and wanted something more capable than a pistol without the bulk of a full-length rifle.
What sets this rifle apart is the sliding barrel sleeve that extends forward to increase the sight radius. That’s an unusual feature you don’t see on typical buggy rifles, and it shows someone was thinking about accuracy despite the compact design. The longer sight plane would help considerably at distance while keeping the rifle short enough for easy carry.
The silver mounts are where this rifle really departs from typical utilitarian examples. The patchbox lid has an engraved game scene showing a running stag – decorative work you’d expect on a high-end sporting rifle, not a traveler’s takedown gun. The detachable buttstock stores the ramrod, which is a clever solution for keeping everything together in a package that breaks down for transport.
Buggy rifles generally weren’t fancy guns. They were practical tools built to be affordable, reliable, and easy to store. Finding one with this level of decoration suggests it was made for someone who wanted both the convenience of a takedown design and the craftsmanship of a custom sporting rifle. That combination is rare enough to make this rifle stand out from the typical utilitarian examples.
Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!
Very Scarce and Unusual Game Scene Engraved Silver Mounted Underhammer Percussion Buggy Rifle | Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1049/500/game-scene-engraved-underhammer-percussion-buggy-rifle. Accessed 30 Nov. 2025.
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