doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Emil Flues

"Emil was lookin' to give the English shotgun trade a run for their money."
Please go on with this thought Robert - did Ithaca have hopes of going into the handmade London Best Gun sidelock ejector market?
Remember, we want real info and not wishful thinking!

Ross,
That's a pretty good explanation of the "compensating bolt" (that's what Emil called it) T lugs is how we've described it...it almost exactly matches Emil's description of the mechanism...
As for the removeable rib, I beleive the main function of the detatchable rib was to keep the rib from expanding when the barrel heated up...of something like that...it was all to do with thermal transfer...or maybe he didn't want to look through heat waves in the last rounds...
I'll dig out my folders this evening and re-familiarize myself...in fact I'll just post the data right here for you interpret yourself

OK...It's been along time since this stuff was compiled, so first, just to set the record straight, Emil had at least 7 patents...546516 Bay City Mich. 1895...980174 Ithaca NY 1910 (not assigned to Ithaca)...1070441 Ithaca NY 1913 assigned to Ithaca Gun Co (note, pat applied for Nov 1909) this is the the refined Flues model that we are all familiar with. This patent was a rare "divided patent" with the second half being issued as 1071994, that was issued in Sept 1913, of course it's also assigned to Ithaca Gun Co...Then 1160157 Buffalo NY Nov 1915, That's right, by 1915 Flues was clearly in Buffalo. In the past, some would not accept that date. There's the patent number, anyone who rejects that date can look it up themselves online, it doesn't make a difference what some city directory says....Then 1312170 Buffalo NY 1919...then 1450496 Buffalo NY 1923...

This list may not be complete...if I find more I'll post the numbers

I can find no evidence of Emil ever residing in Reece Michigan...

Census tract data for Emil Flues:
1870 - Blumfield, Saginaw, Michigan
1880 - Blumfield, Saginaw, Michigan
1890 - census data not available due to fire
1900 - no hits(not unusual)
1910 - Ithaca Ward 5, Tompkins, New York / 316 East Falls Street
1920 - Brooklyn Assembly District 10, Kings, New York / roomer - 63 Berkley(sp?) Place
1930 - Buffalo, Erie, New York / 27 Victoria Ave

1870 - Emil is 9 years old


1880 - Emil is 18 years old



1910 - Emil is 48, with a wife. Occupation listed as Experimental Gun Maker



1920 - Emil is 58 and in a rooming house with his wife. Occupation listed, Gun Maker



1930 - Emil is 68,wife and sister-in-law. Occupation repair. Industry firearms.


Pete

OH yeah...Emil was in Reece for a short time...but I don't think he saw much of it because he was DEAD (where's Sam Kinison when you need him)...the funeral home where he was laid out (in a town where no one knew him) was in Reece...
Except for the last few months of his life that he stayed with his nephew, Emil died broke and forgotten...kinda like Nickola Tesla...

PeteM...thanks for the geneology info, I had no Idea that he had so many siblings...I did research Edwin for awhile though...something is fishy about the 1920 entry as he appears in the Buffalo City directory at that time...

In 1920 they used an enumerator, some one who physically went from door to door writing every thing down.
There is no question on the 1920 census that asks, "How long you have lived at this address?" If you moved in that day, well...
What is interesting is that the wife's first name is blank. This information matches all the other census records, regarding state of birth, parents country of birth, etc.

As is typical of many people in the firearms industry during this period Emil is living in a rooming house. I tracked Lefever employees over several years.
Almost to a man, if they were living in a rooming house, they moved every year.

The 1160157 patent gives a residence of Ithaca.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=HN8ZAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=1160157

Pete

That was good one.

Pete, here's the rib your patent refers to. If you press the button, the rib can be pulled toward the muzzle and off of the gun. Daryl

Daryl,

Incredible isn't it? Thanks for the picture.

Pete

yES, thanks for the pic!

Craig