Interesting that the 1864 seems to have the evolutionary vestiges of percussion lock drip bars.

I am not sure what point is being made in this thread. That low grade Merkels and very early Richards have no under lugs - is the consensus that these guns are as good as high grade guns with three locking points? I usually do not look to the lowest quality guns to set benchmarks for anything like what is the best set of features. I know Greener was a real pro at marketing his guns. On the other hand, I do not think he made his crossbolt 3rd fastener as simply a marketing ploy. It is even more doubtful that all the Germans and other British makers that have copied that crossbolt (and presumably paid handsome patent royalties for the privilege) invested all of that expense and time in labor and licenses imply for as a marketing ploy. No doubt there are many great guns without 3rd fasteners, but I see no reason to believe that makes the third fastener superfluous either.

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BrentD, (Professor - just for Stan)

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