REB87...What? ...AF touch mark on Liege barrels...marked S Sutherland...on a George Ferriss patent...??? Is that correct? It is rumored that George went to France...possibly something to do with Ferris wheel...but that is the wrong George Ferris..
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the George Ferriss that was issued pat # 119834 is spelled with double s...Ferris (wheel) is single s
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It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that the Belgians would rather leave the name off of the gun, than pay royalties to some New York Yankee.
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A couple of years back on this bullitin board system, several members chatted it up over some Belgian made double that was made on Lefever patents...I say "bull"! Either that gun does not exist, or perhaps it's a converted Belgian muzzleloader from back in the days when Lefever was converting muzzle loaders into breech loaders like the Barber and Lefevers..
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I can see the patent Ferriss breech on your barrels, but with an August Francotte touchmark, I guess it's possible, as Francotte seemed to be one of the few Liege makers that paid royalties rather than just make an improvement on other designs ,giving them a means of circumventing the original patent,like the Deforney Holland ejector system.
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If your gun is in fact made on a George Ferriss patent, it belongs in a museum. If it's originally made that way ,and not converted, with ANY Ferriss markings, it should probably be in the Liege Arms Museum...so...I'm guessing it's a converted gun or a Belgian design rip-off (post 1871) only because the gun seems to be too good (interesting) to be true...which is it?
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Utah...your Flues 1 1/2 barrels are exactly the "stars and stripes" pattern known as American Flag Damascus...American Flag Bunting Damascus would have been a more accurate description, but since everyone knew what bunting was back then, there was no need to include the word. Bunting was popular back then, it's relatively rare today...
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Last edited by Robert Chambers; 05/27/07 01:10 AM.
