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Joined: Dec 2001
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Sidelock
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Researcher could be right on the dates. I have had two A Grades with the Infallible trigger. Did not look up the dates of that trigger, but in the back of my head, thought patent dates stamped on the trigger were a bit earlier than 1912.

Tom, the forend "cocking stud" was changed into the one like your later gun somewhere around 1907 , give or take a year.

A later look in my files finds that the first patent for the trigger is in 1906 and refinements in the trigger in 1908 and later. It then appears that the A Grade was made in a time when the Infallible trigger could have been factory supplied. Usually the Infallible trigger had patent dates stamped on it's sides, inside the gun. The question "factory installation" or not could be resolved by viewing these dates.

Last edited by Daryl Hallquist; 12/20/10 05:44 PM.
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Alfred Harvey Worrest – Infallible Single Trigger – Lancaster Arms Co

From researching and studying Alfred’s patents it appears that Alfred took an interest in, and began designing his Single Trigger mechanism around 1900 to 1904. His first patent no. 829,453 was issued on Aug. 28, 1906. His application for that patent was filed on May 3, 1904. It is a complex mechanism built into an L. C. Smith shotgun. It shows that he probably had some experience working professionally as a gunsmith because he completely redesigned the L. C. Smith locks, and his trigger mechanism was built as part of the receiver and locks, and not just an added unit. This design had a problem in that it required a large amount of wood to be removed between and at the back of the locks, weakening an already heavily inletted stock head. The gun with this trigger was also probably very difficult and tricky to assemble. This design shows his concept of the switching block which was the foundation of all of his patents that followed, and was a major feature of the highly dependable and successful “Infallible” trigger. Alfred’s second patent no. 871,550 was applied for on Aug. 10, 1906, just 18 days before his previous patent was issued. That patent was issued on Nov. 19, 1907 and the design was built around a “Minier” model Ithaca Gun Co. double. This triggers design had been changed drastically from the previous one removing many of its faults and problems, and the unit was built onto the guns trigger plate. All of the elements of the “Infallible” trigger are found in this design, but it was not a self contained unit. With this refined design it appears that Alfred began planning on making it’s production a commercial venture. The 1912 edition of the History of Lancaster, Pennsylvania states that the Lancaster Arms Co. who were the manufacturers of the Infallible Single Trigger, had been established two years earlier and was owned and operated by A. H. Worrest. The business was located at 126 E. King St. and the article goes on to state that it was a “well known and prosperous enterprise, his plant is perfectly appointed throughout, and the finest and best class of work is executed”. This not only included the manufacture of the trigger units, but also all kinds of fire arms repairs, and some complete doubles appear with the Lancaster Arms Co. name, but it is unknown if these were made by them, or imported by them and their name added to them prior to their sale. The article goes on to state that Mr. A. H. Worrest “is a gentleman of large experience in this line of industry and thoroughly understands its every detail”.
Following this patent with the next two can be a bit confusing. On June 25, 1909 he applied for another patent which was issued on June 18, 1912 as no. 1,029,781. Then on July 23, 1910 he applied for his fourth patent which was issued on Jan. 2, 1912 as no. 1,013,254. Patent no. 1,013,254 covered improvements to no. 1,029,781 which had not even been issued yet. Looking back you could say that this is a case of the “chicken preceding the egg”. Both of these patents developed the trigger mechanism into a self contained unit.
On Oct. 16, 1911 Alfred applied for his last trigger patent no. 1,029,782 which was also issued on June 18, 1912 and covers additional improvements which brought it to its final form as it was produced. (the above from Larry B Schuknect's book on double gun patents)

I have seen a 1913-vintage Parker Bros. Walter King letter to a customer where he says "As to your request we have removed our infallible single trigger, and installed the double trigger system." I have also seen some evidednce of Ithaca offering the Infallible single trigger prior to WW-I, and I know of at least one smallbore Ansley H. Fox that was ordered with an Infallible trigger before AHFGCo. began offering their Fox-Kautzky single selective trigger. The earliest Baker magazine advertising I've found showing and mentioning a single trigger is in the December 1905 time frame. These ads all show a sliding selector next to the trigger as on Skeettx's gun.
By the 1915 time frame they are offering the Lindsay

Last edited by Researcher; 12/20/10 06:22 PM.
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The Infallible trigger on my Lefever has the 1912 patent dates on the side of housing, under the wood. The gun itself is sort of a conundrum. It is a Twist bbl H grade having doll's hesd & indicators, but appears to have DS wood & forend. The stock has the uncapped half grip of the DS & the forend wood is lacking any escutcheon or tip ala the DS. It is stamped with two SN's being only 4 digits apart. On both the frame & bbl these SN's appear to have been overstamped from a previous Number. The two SN's are 73338 & 73342, which unless something has turned up recently were the highest two SN's recorded for Lefever. I highly suspect it was put togrther from some of the last remaining parts at Ithaca, possibly by an Employee. An Infallible trigger could have definitely been on hand at Ithaca at the time. Perhaps no Lefever ones were even left.
This of course has no real bearing on whether the one in question was installed inside or outside of the Baker factory, just threw it in.


Miller/TN
I Didn't Say Everything I Said, Yogi Berra
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