It is also well to note that "Patent #488,366 Dec 20, 1892" (US) was not for the bls, but the lock mechanism (not bolts). His US patent #246,195 Aug 23, 1881 covered his original style of "Mono-Blocked" (To my knowledge he never used that term) bbl joining. This was the style where the tubes were inserted from the breechs of the block & have a stepped appearance. These are often found on guns marked Original Diana. Also to my knowledge he did not have a patent which covered the method of joining shown on the bbls marked Modified Diana. On this method the tubes stepped & were inserted into the front of the block. On one I have the tubes only go about halfway through the block with a joint in mid-chamber. I am not positive but highly suspect they are threaded into the block.
Also not positive, but highly suspect Berretta "Coined the Term" MonoBlock.
2 Piper,
Thanks for the explanation of the Pieper system...how did you figure out the barrels go only half way through(?) from the patents or looking at the guns?
Also, if your interested, Pieper had a patented ejector system, a sidecocker Blitz system, and another barrel joining patent, and probably a few others if I go sniffing around...Alain's littlegun site says there are from 69 to over 100 patents, but I can only find 5 or so relating to doubles.
If you want, I can send them, or heres the numbers if you want to run them through the DEPATISnet system yourself
Blitz patent is DE73747
Barrel patent is DE15138 not the same as the US patent
Ejector patent is DE73762
The patents may help to date a gun if nothing else
PeteM,
about that horse and rider (knight)...isn't Bayard an area of Luttich? Where the Bayard factory is and the cottage laborers worked and lived?
Steve,
Does your gun have a German pointer engraved on both sides of the action near the hinge pin?
