Yes..agree on VC action and patents - they were/are very good. But what's the common denominator amongst all those "HELICE" locks? Is there any? Or is it just a word? We'd have to go through each one to figure out whether it's a VC purloined 4th lock copy or something else. What does a gun with "Helice" on the key mean? If anything? It's got a left stop? It operates on a helical principle as has every center-break gun since Lefaucheux? If you speak of a "Helice system"...it means there's a system. There isn't unless you suppose that every use of the Helice variant means a VC copy....and that supposition can't be supported.
Argo, I would suggest that there is indeed a "common denominator" amongst all those "Helice" locks: The 4 piece "Helice Grip" lock patented by Verney-Carron and very clearly illustrated in the 1922 catalog I have. I believe that if a French maker put some variant of "Helice" on his gun's top lever, that's what is meant by it. Widely used by makers other than V-C once the patent expired. Why does that seem so unusual? Look at the millions of guns made on the Anson & Deeley action--by a plethora of makers. (From various countries, in the case of A&D.)
And I'll add that I owned a V-C gun (first V-C I owned) that was actually called "Helice". It was the Helice 33. I wrote V-C about the gun and still have the correspondence, in addition to the page from their catalog they sent me. It was the first V-C gun to use coil rather than leaf springs. Mine was the top of the line Helice 33 #3, and used the "Helice Grip" locking mechanism. (That's one I wish I still had. It was a 16ga in excellent condition.)
From what I can see from the exterior of my Mondiale, everything looks right for the same locking mechanism. Those features, although based on the "helical principle", are specific enough to state, quite clearly, that if it's the exact same system that V-C used, then it is indeed a V-C copy. What else could it be? And it is a very specific system. What's somewhat unusual is that Mondiale put their name on the top lever rather than Helice or some variant, which is often the case with other French guns--which bear no other maker's name. Mondiale also appears on the underside of the barrels, along with the initials VA after the serial number.
