Whitney-Burgess.com

Feb. 8th - twelve more pictures of the Evans rifle added on this blizzardy evening - please see photo gallery. 

There is a great story documented in an article titled, "Andrew Burgess, Gun Inventor" written by Elmer Burgess and Lynn T. Wakeling and can be found in Gun Collector's Digest, Volume II.  Charlie Dammon (aka Left Hand Charlie) was one of the best shots available in the 1890's.  Charlie was known to occasionally hunt with Andrew Burgess.  Charlie was able to work the Burgess action so fast that he could keep six shell casings in the air at once.  The great story about Charlie occurs in 1895 when Teddy Roosevelt was President of the New York City Police Board.  Charlie strode into Roosevelt's office with a Burgess folding shotgun.  As Roosevelt looked up from his desk, Charlie fired six blank cartridges off with his typical lightning fast speed.  Roosevelt was of course startled but that reaction quickly gave way to admiration.  He was so impressed that he ordered 100 of the folders for use in the New York Prison system.   It almost takes my breath away to ponder how much the world has changed since the days of Andrew Burgess and Charlie Dammon.  Can anyone imagine how such a trick today would work out?  And in New York City of all places? 

This website started life on 1/15/10 so it is very new.  The focus of this site are a group of rare antique firearms that don't seem to have a home elsewhere on the internet.  Whether those that collect these firearms are more rare than the firearms themselves is something that we shall see.  Although we are scattered lightly throughout the world, the tool of cyberspace and the internet can allow us to come together despite very large distances and time zones. 

The purpose of the site is to provide an opportunity for education and communication for those interested in the topic.  The primary focus is antique lever action firearms stemming from the patents of Eli Whitney Sr. and Eli Whitney Jr. and those they collaborated with such as Burgess, Kennedy, Morse and Scharf.  There were also be space devoted to single-shot rifles and those Whitney firearms that preceded the lever action rifles.  All firearms manufactured by Andrew Burgess will be covered which will include the Burgess wrist operated repeating shotgun.  As we know, the designs of Andew Burgess found their way into the firearms of other manufactures such as the Colt-Burgess rifle and many of the Marlin lever action rifles.  I had not planned to include these as there are other sites devoted to Colt and Marlin Firearms.  Please note that this site is just starting and the course it takes will be heavily influenced by the desires of the participants.  Finally, there are two other fascinating lever action repeating rifles that also do not seem to have a home and are contemporary to our focus.  Those are the rifles of James Bullard and Warren Evans.  These are highly unique repeating rifles that truly deserve a home and I look forward to the opportunity to advance my knowledge of these fine firearms. 

The structure of the site will include forums to discuss the various categories of firearms, informational summaries on the various manufacturers and the specific models produced and photo galleries.  Please e-mail pictures you would like included in the photo galleries.  My goal is to eventually have at least one or more photo of every model covered here.  Please forward your photos as attachments to:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Please be patient as I work full-time and while this is my passionate hobby, there is a finite amount of time I can devote to it.  It is definitely winter where I live so for the next many months, I will be spending every weekend adding to the site - so please check back often.  Also, any comments or difficulty registering for the site (which at this moment, hasn't been set up - please check back) should be directed to:   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Thanks!