Tom: No, not slide & drop, just a cammed-lever on a single bite. You aren't kidding about it being transitional, this provisional patent (#1785) was evidently issued in 1867, almost a year after this gun was produced. It's marked as a separate Lang's patent number on the gun (#46) and is only mentioned on pages 126 & 127 in Crudgington & Baker's book. Any similar examples that I've been able to find online (or in this book) while being only a few serial numbers earlier from this unit...are very different. Anything much later seems to have a toplever so...probably not many examples ever made, nor are there many left. This design clearly wasn't all that successful for them.
Handsome is a good word for it though, thankyou (beauty of course being in the eye-of-the-beholder). It's visually interesting for me, at least, which is what drove this whole exercise. I shipped it off today, so any real test of its relative merits are still to come. Terry thinks he'll have it ready when he returns to Colorado next month.
an old friend, who enjoyed nice shotguns, fine watches and diamonds....told of a diamond trader of his acquaintance, who, when showing a prospective buyer his wares, would suggest a nicer diamond by saying _ "if you'd like something with a little more romance".
these fine old guns, in well kept condition, simply offer "a little more romance".
best regards,
tom
