doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The pinfire game gun

Steve has discussed the rising stud. However, his explanation on a Reilly question was truly worth retaining. The essence of this exchange is being posted below to insure it is all in one place. This site continues to have true expertise:

Holts is advertising a Reilly pin-fire, SN 10456, a Lefaucheux/Lang forward under-lever, center break 16 gauge shotgun. This gun would date to December 1857 and is one of the 5 earliest known extant Reilly break-action guns, the others being
-- 10054 (September 1856 and possibly the oldest datable UK center-break gun in existence),
-- 10128 (December 1856),
-- 10344 (August 1857),
-- 10458 (December 1857 – 1st extant Beringer style around the guard U-L) and
-- 10655 (May 1858).
This gun has been added to Chapter III, 27 & 28

Edit: Based on an exchange of correspondence with Holt's the auction house has changed the date of origin to circa 1857

https://www.holtsauctioneers.com/as...725++++797+&refno=226474&image=8
REILLY, LONDON
A CASED 16-BORE PINFIRE DOUBLE-BARRELLED SPORTING GUN, serial no. 10456,
circa 1857, with faded brown damascus 30in. barrels, the top-rib signed 'REILLY, 302 NEW OXFORD STREET, LONDON', London proofs, rounded border and scroll engraved action with forward facing under-lever, borderline and scroll engraved top-tang featuring a vignette of a standing gamebird, border, scroll and gamescene engraved back-action locks signed 'REILLY, LONDON', engraved hammers, walnut butt-stock with chequered wrist (rubbed, small loss at head), iron heel-plate with scroll and gamescene engraved spur, gamescene engraved trigger-guard bow and chequered walnut splinter fore-end with cross-key fastener, in its makers oak case lined and compartmented in green baize, darkly stained parchment Reilly trade label and a small number of accessories



A question was asked about the action of 10456 (numbered circa December 1857). It appears to have a rising stud on the water table which interacts shallowly and at an oblique with the barrel flats. Could someone please explain what this is for? Stephen Nash I believe implied this was a Beringer characteristic.






edit: Stephen Nash offer an erudite and elegant explanation for the rising stud, identifying it with a Beringer patent.
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=662816#Post662816

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Here is Stephen’s response for the record:

The rising stud is actuated by moving the underlever and 'lifts' the barrels to start the opening motion. When closing the barrels, the depressed stud moves the underlever towards the center, bringing it within finger's reach. It is an assisted opening/closing mechanism developed by Beatus Beringer of Paris, in use on pin-fire actions from at least 1837. The stud could be centered, like on the Reilly, or slightly to one side, as in Beringer's diagram below (Journal Des Chasseurs, 1837).



The fact that there is a corresponding wear mark under the barrel shows the Reilly gun was opened and closed a great deal. By contrast, Casimir Lefaucheux used a fixed pin protruding from the barrel flats which cammed agaist the locking lug, which accomplished the same purpose.

The use of Beringer's rising stud on British pin-fires is interesting in that it shows that not all elements of Lefaucheux's action were copied. In fact, Beringer's action improvements and design choices (such as the single bite) were far more common in British pin-fires than Lefaucheux's, despite all British pin-fires being called 'Lefaucheux' at the time. Joseph Lang copied Beringer's single bite, but did not include the rising stud. Blanch, Reilly, and others, and Birmingham action makers such as Samuel Breeden and Joseph Brazier, did. While the pin-fire system of Lefaucheux, based on the cartridge, was adopted and correctly credited, Beatus Beringer had a greater impact on British designs, something which has not received the attention it deserves. Blanch bought a Beringer gun to study; what is not known if other gunmakers subsequently copied Blanch's copy, or obtained Beringer guns to dismantle on their own. I have no doubt that some Lefaucheux actions were brought in and retailed by British makers, and renamed. What I am unsure about is whether any British maker built copies of Lefaucheux's original double-bite design, I have yet to come across definitive proof.