doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Identified Belgian barrel maker marks

I'm curious if Ernest Heuse-Lemoine actually made the cape or just the tubes/tubeset:

http://www.merzantique.com/item.php?id=1181_0_2_0

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Hmm, $2,250 for a gun with a broken hammer? I have seen that conversion device before. No idea who was selling them. This gun is much too early for the activity period of Heuse-Lemoine, 1894.

Heuse-Lemoine could have made the gun. He also held a patent for a damascus twist pattern among other things.

I have purchased from Merz in the past. I would imagine he is ready to deal on this one.

Pete

Thanks Peter and I too have seen the same and on one occasion in a GGCA publication where I think the device was not present and just the slots remained. Due to condition, I had wondered if maybe there was a rebarrel effort. The Gothic style engraving reminds me of the craftsmen of Herzberg am Harz.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Pete, Raimey, and Drew. Thanks for all of your research efforts. Your works makes it really interesting for all of us.

Wow- can't believe we've been working on this stuff since 2007!
Newer documents
https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfg2hmx7_28dvjzkhgf

Hunter Arms barrel sources
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=17ixogftgITEblNUWtmFBv96ZvgjK6eFell8GsAWd-KI

Drew, time passes and hopefully errors are rectified. High probability that single Gothic script S on the J. Wegel. Unless it is a task or control mark, I couldn't say why it is there.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Well, after a lot of negotiating I was able to acquire the 1924 film, as most are aware. I was stunned during my visit last year to discover there is a 1934 version. It shows not only the barrel makers, but also the large slabs of red hot damascus flowing through the rolling mill. There is no way they will discuss releasing that 1934 film.

I did acquire a recent book from Belgium that documents much of this. If my math is close, the billets started out, 4.5 meters long by 1.285 wide by .713 high. This weighed 71 pounds more or less depending on the patterns iron to steel mix. (I have heard that at one time the billets were 2x this size.) After initial rolling it was cut to 50cm (19.6") long by 14cm wide (5.5") by 3.05cm (1.2") high. This secondary billet weighed close to 36 pounds. This would produce approximately 9 barrels. The rolling mill was using approximately 42 tons of pressure.

They had a set montly schedule for producing various types of damascus. The mill paid a royalty to the patent holder for each pattern. This cost was passed on to the barrel makers. The barrel makers had to place their order for the stock patterns in advance. Special patterns, like "Remington" embedded into the damascus were billed based on time and labor.

Pete

Pete, your translation of the union group should be "union of gunbarrel makers".

Drew, your first post has a bunch of markings in the barrelmakers' names that don't exist in French.

Now that I'm done being the picky French teacher . . . great work, guys!