100-year-old American rifle on show at Shropshire antiques centre

Straight out of the days of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the de-commissioned percussion revolver rifle was based on similar designs from the American Civil War.

Gun enthusiasts can see the gun at the Old Mill Antiques Centre in Low Town.

John Ridgway, Old Mill owner, said: "We’ve never seen a rifle quite like this before and it’s certainly attracting attention from the gun enthusiasts.

"It was probably made during the early 1900s but was officially proofed here in England in the 1960s.

“It’s a really unusual design and we’re guessing it will very much appeal to keen militaria and firearms collectors.”

Repeating rifles were created as an attempt to speed up shooting by installing a rifle with a large revolving firing mechanism.

The experiment worked – firing was definitely faster – but they were also seriously flawed in their design. Early models would sometimes shoot all six shots at once, and reload time was excessive.

But despite being used both in combat and security several times in the 19th century Old West, they were unpopular among soldiers and eventually discontinued by maker Colt.