AaronN, the barrel release mechanism my comments are based on is different from yours, the second lever engages a notch on a small barrel lump. The hinge pin does not need to be removed to remove the barrels, which is a lot less of a headache, I expect! I was led to believe this minor improvement was Lepage's design, but I may be wrong on that. I find the fog around early French and Belgian designs often impenetrable, and I'm happier with the British side of the story. Continental guns are a whole area of study I'm not familiar with, other than having a few examples to examine first-hand. I look forward to reading your DGJ article!

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]