I saw this thread and shared it with Steve Dalzell. He really likes the gun and asked me to share his thoughts:
"What a very nice gun! By a very good, if little known maker, too.
"I've done a little research and come up with the following, which you might like to add to the discussion.
"Date: From Ford's records, which do exist despite the confident claim in the tread that they do not! 1908
"Proof marks: Date to post 1904 with a re-proof after 1954 and before 1989
"Trigger: Baker patent 19,430 of 1901. This is a selective single trigger, though I'm not surprised that everyone has missed that as the selection is done by pushing the trigger forward. It reverts to right/left firing after a left/right sequence so you have to select left/right every time you want to use it. It seems quite a few of the best Birmingham makers used this pattern. I have a picture of a similar quality Charles Boswell so fitted.
"You're welcome!"
Learn something every day....
Of course, I set down my laptop and went down to check this immediately.
Mr. Dalzell is correct - it is indeed a selective single trigger, and works exactly as he describes. There's a slight reluctance for the 2nd barrel to fire with snap caps when the trigger is pushed forward - I'll have to look into that.
Is there a way for me to thank Mr. Dalzell directly?
