Firing the Late Model Evans Rifle

The Evans Rifle was a post Civil War innovation. It was the culmination of a design by two brothers in Maine. One was an engineer and the other a dentist. But in the post American Civil War arms glut, the company fell victim to hard economic times, and the fact that their financial manager was guilty of embezzlement.

The US military wasn't interested in a contract with the Evans brothers, but a few foreign militaries were. One such major European power at the time ordered a number of these guns, but ended up not paying for the shipment. Sadly, the Evans rifle became defunct after a few years of production and the factory closed.

The Evans rifle carried unprecedented firepower for the period it was developed, and in many ways was far ahead of it's time. With a few more minor tweaks, the gun could have potentially been a game changer. However, the clamshell nature of the receiver would preclude this rifle from making the transition to modern smokeless powders just a couple decades later. As it is, the design would never have held up to the stresses of the smokeless cartridges. Now --it’s merely a footnote almost lost to history. Come take a closer look with me at an unusual 25 shot magazine fed firearm that sadly was never meant to be.

Luckily, I have a strong penchant for unusual firearms, and I was lucky enough to pick up this particular specimen. Half the obsession for me is to make ammunition and actually fire these old guns.

To see how I make ammunition for the .44 Evans Long cartridge, Click here