doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Bellmore Gun Co. Question

Gentlemen -

Would anyone care to offer information concerning the Bellmore Gun Company and what relationship, if any, they had with the L.C. Smith/Hunter Arms Co. production of quality SxS sporting arms.

I am interested in knowing if Bellmore was just a marketing firm, perhaps of Elsie doubles, as it seems unlikely that they, Bellmore, would have undertaken the manufacture of a double under a license from either Hunter or L.C.Smith.

I have just returned from an auction preview and while there I physically examined a Bellmore 12 gauge double that was a mirror image of the L.C Smith "Regular Frame" double gun.

Any information that may be provided would be useful for my purpose.

Thanks,
Webb

Bellmore Gun Co. is one of the myriad "trade names" found of the cheap sidelock doubles produced by H & D Folsom Arms Co. of 314 Broadway, New York City, at their gun factory in Norwich, Conn. The guns Folsom made there were marketted by them under the American Gun Co. name prior to WW-I --



and Crescent Fire Arms Co. name after WW-I --



Many other purchasers also got American Gun Co. and Crescent Fire Arms Co. marked guns if they didn't specify a "trade name" of their own. I don't know, off hand, who used the Bellmore Gun Co. name. I bet there is a good chance Drew Hause will know.

Thank you Researcher, that very good information and will get me started.

Webb:

The Crescent gun's relation to a Smith is that they are both sidelocks, and the similarity pretty much ends there.

Crescent



Smith Regular frame



Smith Featherweight



More Folsom/Crescent infro here Webb
http://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1OxZo5Tkvx2G8eYf747QR9B5RJdN6Siu5JGIhfguSXXQ