Raimey,
Regarding the drilling patents.
The limiting factor is that
1) Germany is a younger country than the USA
2) They took a while to establish patent laws, hence a patent office. Their patent laws did not take effect until July 1877.
So, the USA has the earliest patent for a drilling that I can find with the Slotterbek 1868 patent.
The oldest German patent for a drilling that I have found is P. Oberhammer, 02 Feb 1878, #DE2795A.
It only took him 6 months to realize he had an invention that could be patented.
I am sure that neither represent the earliest firearm with 3 barrels. They are simply the oldest patents I can find.
Regarding the out of sequence items. Send me an email and list them. With 11,103 items it is a bit much to find on my own.
I make no promises about updating the list by the way. It would quickly become a full time job. I do intend to set up another page with them sorted by last name + first name + patent #.
Pete
