Birmingham gunsmith William Tranter (1816-1890) is very significant in the history of revolving firearms as one of the key figures in developing double action revolvers, starting with his distinctive double trigger revolvers which use the lower trigger to rotate the cylinder and cock the hammer and then the main trigger to fire. This design allows for a lighter trigger pull and greater accuracy than the other early double action designs. His arms were also adapted to metallic cartridges, and he was a founder and director of the influential Birmingham Small Arms Co. This revolving rifle is a variation of his third model double trigger design and has his patented loading lever fitted via a screw on the front of the frame on the left. Plainer Tranter revolving rifles are shown and discussed on pages 82-8 and 227-229 of "The Firearms of William Tranter Birmingham Gunsmith" by Ron Stewart who notes that they are rare, but some were definitely in use in the period and further examples are illustrated in "William Tranter Birmingham" by Wolfgang Berk on pages 250-253. The present rifle has gold koftgari designs in three panels on the barrel, around the cylinder, the hammer shroud, the top strap, and the tang of the buttplate and has relief chiseled floral scroll patterns on the barrel, cylinder, frame, and buttplate heightened with silver. "Oriental" designs on European arms were popular in the period, and many of the decorated arms were presentation pieces for local dignitaries within the Ottoman Empire and India as well as European military officers stationed there. Tranter double trigger revolvers are also known with koftgari decoration and Arabic inscriptions. The brown Damascus barrel has a dovetailed blade front sight, a three-leaf rear sight (100 yard notch standing, 200 and 300 yard leaves folding), and London proofs. The frame has "W. TRANTERS PATENT No 7,587, T." on the right side. The cylinder has London proofs.

Very fine with bright koftgari patterns, crisp relief carving, distinct markings, a fire blue finish on the balance with fading to smooth brown patina, and generally minimal wear. The action works intermittently. The very fine replacement stock has crisp checkering, attractive figure, and minimal light handling and storage marks. This is an extremely rare revolving rifle both in terms of the rarity of Tranter revolving rifles as a whole and in terms of its beautiful artistry.