The rarest of the rare: Offered here is a crown jewel in American firearms collecting: 1 of only 3 S&W lever action repeating rifles known to exist. The carbine is well-documented in Edmund Lewis and Stephen Rutter's "Volcanic Firearms" on pages 38 and 39. According to the two authors, "This is one of only two privately owned Smith & Wesson rifles…More than likely, this was a factory exhibition piece, never destined for sale and never fired. It was manufactured circa 1854-1855." The long guns were developed from Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson’s lever action patent of 1854. Less than 10...