Raimey, I think you're grasping at very thin straws. A company that patented the Helice lockins system "more of a firearms merchant"? I don't think so . . . although their 1922 catalog does include a number of guns made by others--and clearly marked as made by others. Their sxs, on the other hand: All V-C. The tradition of taking credit for what they made and not for what they didn't continued right up to their 1999 catalog, in which they clearly identify the two models of V-C sxs thusly:

"Les Helux et Jet sont fabriques pour notre compte dans l'Union Europeene . . . ". Which translates as being made for them in the European Union.

V-C survives to this day, one of a relatively few St. Etienne firms still in business. They make a wide range of OU's, and in their "custom" workshop (L'Atelier Verney-Carron), they turn out higher grade OU's and bespoke sxs. Indeed, nothing but a firearms merchant. smile