Alright folks I took this thing apart. I thought I would give it a try and if I encountered any resistance I'd quit and reverse course. It came apart remarkably easy. I've had much newer guns give me much more trouble.
I had hoped to find some sort of mark inside that would help identify the maker, but came up empty. There is not a mark, stamp or initial anywhere inside this thing. I did see a pair of notches on various parts, and screws. They appear to have been made with a graver as they are too sharp for a file. I think they are just marks made at the bench to identify which hand fitted parts go with each other.
I did clean all the parts in acetone and scrubbed them with a paint brush. I oiled everything with Break Free and blew off all the excess with compressed air, so it's cleaned and oiled now at least. I was very surprised at how little rust there was inside and the wood isn't oil soaked like a lot I've seen.
There is a mark on the fore end lug that I'm not sure about. It looks like a V of some sort, but seems a little strange for a V. Maybe it's just the angle the stamp was at when it was hit with the hammer.
On the sides of the fore end release lever it shows a crown, or something, and Patent on one side and something like EY & EDQE as near as I can tell, on the other. There may be more to the left of the E but I can't make it out. Maybe Largopus can shed some light on it. If it's an English patent perhaps it will narrow the date range at least.
Also I see that the screw that goes through the upper tang under the breech opening lever appears noticeably off center, and is threaded into the same hole as the separate screw that holds on the trigger plate.
Thanks again to all.
