Mine too & empirically it appears the French mechanics were the designers & developers & then the Brits & others like the Germans, commandeered the platform / technology & improved on it, whether it be by purchase or emulation. One thing the French did was to use the cheap Belgian labour(as did the Germans) to manufacture their wares, sometimes pricepoint war....
Too ammo makers like S&B(Sellier & Bellot) have French beginnings where Louis Sellier was a Frenchman escaping the French Revolution to Prague where he & Frenchman Bellot hitch their Ammo making carts. Then I think they sold it to a Bohemian?
Cheers,
Raimey
rse