Yes, the body action "wrist breaker" is indeed a Beesley patent, as is the patent block safety used on the gun. Thorn bought the design outright from F. Beesley and owned ALL the rights to manufacture the gun. After that, if Beesely or anybody else wanted to make a gun using the wrist-breaker design whether it be a body action or sidelock, they would have to get permission from Thorn. As you can see, Thorn NEVER had to acquire a "License" from Beesely....he bought the design in its entirety and he became sole owner of the design. I believe the case is very similar to the deal struck with Purdey. The gun you have, is a rare bird indeed. Beesely did manufacture a few of his own guns using this patent before he sold the rights to Thorn.
Dustin
Last edited by LeFusil; 03/16/11 03:15 PM.
