Ted;
It is an "Undisputed Fact" that Henri Pieper received a patent for his one piece breech in 1881, Now that is 21 years earlier than 1902. Patents are granted every day on items which have been previously patented for some change, often very minor & not even necessarily an "Improvement", just something a little different. Pieper's first patent had the bbls inserted from the rear, later he made models with them inserted from the front of the block. I have one of these which almost certainly predates 1900 & the breech piece "IS NOT DAMASCUS", but steel. Whether either or both of them died a pauper or wealthy is immaterial to the discussion, the fact is the innovation of a one piece breech in joining shotgun bbls belongs to Henri Piueper, not Regis Darne. That is all I am saying, not that hard to understand now is it??? As to which I personally like the best, well I like my Halifax better than my Pieper, even though the Halifax doesn't have the mono-block & the Pieper does, but what does that prove. A Big Fat Nothing. Actually I like my Lefevers better than either of them.
I still believe in giving credit where credit is due, & for the Mono-Block that goes to Henri Pieper which is a well known fact & confirmed by I guess about every gun knowledgable person in the world, except of course those who simply blind their eyes to truth that doesn't suit their fancy.
