A couple of things not mentioned in the auction description of this rifle are that it belonged to Jonathan Kirton probably from the 60's; and is minutely described and pictured in his book :|"THE BRITISH FALLING BLOCK BREECHLOADING RIFLE". He mentions that probably fewer than 35 tang safety Gibbs rifles were produced, and that this rifle, being one of the last 15 made, has the original production records extant. It took eight men 678 hours and 35 minutes of labor to produce this rifle not including engraving! It is interesting to note that the barrel contour is identical to the Ross sporters of the same time, and that the barrel was probably procured from whoever produced the barrels for Ross. This rifle is the culmintion of 45 years of development and the product of one of the best gunmakers ever. The only mention of it's history before it came to Canada in the 60's is that it probably spent much time in East Africa, as there are a few much faded Uganda Railway stickers on the case.

All the best, SXS