Originally Posted By: Dewey Vicknair
This was the only gun actually built under license from Westley Richards rather than designed to get around a patent.

There in that statement you have it.
Designed to get around a patent.
I live in Australia & here we have almost one of everything from anywhere imported to fill the needs of the growing market from 1788 onwards.
One of my interests is antique stationary engines & these were made in the millions the world over to fill a hungry market that wanted them NOW. The manufacturers came up with all sorts of devious devices to do carburation, injection, ignition, every one different just to get around patents & get a product into production & onto the the market.
Were each one of these devious devices the best thing since sliced bread ? No.
Did they do the job ? Yes.
They put the product on the market to serve & work for the consumer at a price they could afford & that the manufacturer made a profit on. Thereby they all made a living.
I love to see the ingenuity of design that this situation created.

We all know that if we took all the best design features of every shotgun, car, stationary engine or bike that we would have a very good bit of gear. This is why some of us do vehicle modifications & mix & match parts to build a hot rod.
Just remember that the manufacturers of our old gear did not have this same liberty.
O.M.