Were the Burgess and Spencer guns hammerless? The ones I've seen were not. Interesting guns, but not hammerless. The Burgess Gun Company was bought out by Winchester in 1899 (to eliminate the competition?). Even though Winchester and John Browning were feuding (they wouldn't pay him any royalties on a per gun basis) he shamelessly borrowed the Burgess take-down for his first hammerless repeating shotgun design and then promptly sold it to J. Stevens Arms and Tool because, much like FN, they were willing to pay him as he wished. Browning (and then his heirs) collected royalties on 520(and then the 620) production until 1955. I wonder if this is partly why production records were so poorly kept by Stevens/Savage?
Last edited by Lloyd3; 06/08/15 03:31 PM.
