Ballard No. 6½ Rigby

About the Ballard No. 6½ Rigby

The Ballard No. 6½ Rigby is a single-shot, breech-loading falling-block target rifle built on Charles Henry Ballard's action and produced by Marlin Firearms of New Haven, Connecticut from about 1883 to 1891. Conceived as an 'off-hand' rifle for standing-position target work, the No. 6½ used a three-finger lever, a crisp single trigger, and a conservative Swiss-style buttplate with modest prongs. Its name and signature feature come from the three flats worked into the barrel where it joins the action, a detail inspired by the Dublin and London gunmaker John Rigby & Co. Examples carried upgraded English walnut with a cheekpiece, an engraved muzzle and action, a wind-gauge front sight, and a Ballard 'improved' tang sight with elevation scale. Originally chambered for the .40-65 and .44-75 Ballard cartridges, it was later offered in lighter chamberings such as .32-40 and .38-55 Ballard.

Named for the Rigby barrel flats it borrowed from the famous Dublin and London gunmakers, the No. 6½ Rigby was the refined off-hand target rifle of the Marlin-Ballard family — built for the deliberate standing shooter who valued a crisp single trigger and a fine walnut cheekpiece over the raw heft of a buffalo gun.

Ballard No. 6½ Rigby specifications

Specifications vary considerably from gun to gun because the No. 6½ was a high-grade, semi-custom offering; barrel lengths of roughly 28 to 30 inches and weights from about 9¾ to over 10 pounds were common. The .40-65 listed here is the proprietary Ballard chambering (also seen as the .40-65 Everlasting), distinct from the later .40-65 Winchester. Receivers marked 'Marlin Fire Arms Co.' date the gun to after about 1881.