doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com An education in cross bolt locking systems please

Berettas are definitely among the champs when it comes to a low profile. I believe the Cynergy was initially promoted as the shallowest of all mass produced guns. The Merkel is pretty much on the other end of the scale. The receiver is quite deep, which some people don't like. But in spite of that, they've managed to keep their OU's pretty light. They also use a very slim, 3 piece forend which helps to keep the weight down.

Another contender for the shallowest o/u action contest:

Saive has their own version too. I have one of such:



http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20s/a%20saive%20gb.htm

The shotgun in foto below is similar as mine:

Francotte also made OU's using a Merkel-like system. Likewise, Abercrombie & Fitch imported a Merkel-like OU in the 30's. And there was a Charles Daly branded, Belgian-made OU (probably by Masquelier) also imported in the 30's--yet another Belgian look-alike. I've owned both Francotte and Charles Daly versions. They look similar to the gun in the above photo, but with more engraving.

After the original patents had expired ,some of which in the British trade would not stood up to a test case in a court of law, there was free for all so there would have been a whole raft of copies and variations on the original theme . Some were improvements such as the Scott square bolt others a waste of time that had little or no effect on the actual locking other than to look good in adverts .The same will apply to the subsequent variations on the Kersten bolt . The version that the likes of Beretta use will not have specific name other than " top bolt "or "locking bolt"

Correct. Here is a picture of my W&P 16 bore built in 1882.




Mr. Powell was kind enough to send me a copy from the original ledger book.

Matt