You guys are truly amazing and what has been posted here by Stephen and Aaron is a primer in the origin of the break-action/center-break gun.

Having read Stephen's article in Diggory's on-line publication, however, this observer believes he has a point. Beringer like Lefaucheax exhibited at the Crystal Palace fair. No matter what the history was between Lefaucheux and Beringer during the 1840's by 1851 both designs were in production and clearly identifiable. Hodges looks to have used a single bite for his first gun which Lang copied - at least per the gun sketched in 1856, which clearly had a single bite though using a Lefaucheux style under-lever.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

It would appear then that though Lefaucheux got the sketches in the press from 1851, it was Beringer who provided the engineering for the orignal UK copies.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

That may be the reason that when Blanch sent his employee to Paris to buy a center-break gun to reverse engineer in November 1855, he bought a Beringer not a Lefaucheux.

Just an observation on what seems logical from an 1850's point of view. And I'll add one of the French words for "underlever" is "cle Beringer" (Beringer key)

Last edited by Argo44; 04/24/24 11:10 PM.
Baluch are not Brahui, Brahui are Baluch