Toby, thanks a lot. Your site always is the most professional. Now, you're going to get a bit irritated with my ignorance. But these questions are important to me and the research I'm conducting.
When you list a series of patents like the ones on the linked gun (posted below),
-- Are these patents stamped on the gun in question or did you recognize them and identify them based on experience? i.e. What patents are physically stamped on that gun?
-- Were these patents still in force at the time a gun was built - in this case 1893 (I assume UK patents expire after 14 years with exceptions?) or were they public property at the time the gun was built?
-- Are there patent use numbers stamped on these guns in addition to the patent numbers?
. . .-- if the patent has expired then obviously no patent use number and probably no stamp at all.
. . .-- If the patent were held by the firm which built the gun, and was still current, would they place use numbers on the patent stamp? !!
(I's difficult to cotton to the possibility that a company building a gun with its own patents would put a patent use number on it which would require payment of royalties. ...Then again - corporate voraciousness could lead to this sort of double-tax. - Jeep makes Wranglers and charges extra for engines, Bose speakers, etc.)I'll make a separate post soon asking questions about patent use numbers (and building some graphs dating use numbers of certain popular gun patents based on their links to dated guns) but the above questions are important, not so much to the shooter maybe, but surely to the academic and the historian. Many thanks.
Here are the patents listed on the gun referenced by Toby:
http://heritageguns.co.uk/Leech%2012%20SLE%203274/Leech%2012%20SLE%203274%20Details.htm
Patents Exhibited include:
'Purdey Bolt' patent no. 1104 of 1863;
'Scott Spindle' patent no. 2752 of 1865;
Perkes cocking rod patent no 1968 of 1878;
Scott's gas check patent no. 617 of 1882;
Scott's top extension patent no. 1902 of 1875;
Perkes ejector patent no 10679 of 1886;
Deeley's ejector patent no 14526 of 1884;
Scott forend lever catch patent no. 615 of 1876.(And of course the follow-on..."Do all guns that have that Scott top extension patent 1902-75 have those screw caps on the fences?" I've searched and searched...and can only find these two guns...odd but the search is a difficult one bringing in all sorts of extraneous stuff)
