Again, I was not saying that all W. Richards were poor quality. I never even mentioned Belgian guns. My only intent was to show that it was a ploy to capitalize on the good Westley Richards name. I still believe that to be the case, regardless the high quality of some of the W. Richards guns that were made.
If it were NOT meant to capitalize on the good name of Westley Richards I believe the full first name would have been employed, for example William Richards.
JMHO, SRH
Could be far less sinister sounding reasons in real life than that. Maybe he had a cousin, also a William Richards, known far and wide as a ne'er-do-well, and he was attempting to avoid problems with suppliers or outworkers confusing the two. Or, maybe the engraver got a few more precious quid for engraving the whole name, and he was looking for cost savings anywhere he could.
Had the guns seen with the W. Richard's name, that William RIchards produced, been of second rate quality, I might believe that was the reasoning. But, all of them seem to be pre WWI, and superb.
There was simply no reason to attempt to fool anyone when you were producing guns of that quality.
JMHO.
Best,
Ted
