Steve,
Yes...they made some extremely nice guns, especially the ones bound for Germany and Europe ...but that doesn't excuse them from the fact that they made more JACB's than all other European firms combined....It's been my general observation that when a gun is well made at the Pieper factory they are generally marked Bayard, but not always...when you see a gun that's of higher quality than Bayard, they are generally marked Henri Pieper...
It's just and unrefined observation...take it with you to the gun show, and cross check my observation for yourself...
When a Pieper is JABC, they are usually assigned a whole pile of names like W Richards, T Barker, Wm Moore, Manton, Jannsen, Dumoulin, Interchangable, Machine Made, and many more...The unraveling of what's what with this maker is more than I care to research, and for that reason I know very little about this GIANT Belgian maker.
As to your hammergun, according to this catalog...
model 335 has a round Greener cross bolt
model 331 has a round x bolt with side clips
model 332 same as 331 4th fastner
model 329 has a square x bolt with sideclips
model 330 same as 329 4th fastner
and then 7 grades higher in what appears to be higher level of fit and engraving
RC, thank you for that information. I must have a strange cat here made for the German market as it has markings in French & in German. It has a round cross-bolt, fourth fastener, no side-clips, and is marked "Machine Made Safety Action" as well as Bayard/Pieper Herstal. Also, as 16 bore it weighs 6 lbs. 2 oz. with 29" bbls. A lovely little thing retaining 90% CC that is my dedicated Prairie Chicken gun.
Thanks again, sv
