deadin
US Veteran
Here's a little piece I recently picked up at a local gunshow…
It is a Flobert chambered in 9mm Long Shot cartridge. These guns were popular in the 1890's through the early 20th century and came in basically two varieties.
The first being what was called a "Parlor" gun usually chambered in 4.5mm or 6mm BB cap. For those that didn't know, Flobert invented the Bulleted Breech Cap in the 1840's by, basically, inserting a round ball in the front of a standard percussion cap and used only the fulminate as a propellent. This evolved into the 22 Short that we know and was used in the first S&W Model 1 revolvers.
Later chambering of the Flobert were 7mm and 9mm rimfire with round ball, conical ball and shot being available. (The RB and CB rounds were much shorter than the shot cartridges.) The "Parlor" guns were intended for indoor parlor shooting while the larger versions were called "Garden" guns and were mainly meant for vermin control.
This piece uses the Warnant breeching system which is an actual locked breech, unlike the original Floberts that the hammer is the breech, held closed only by the strength of the hammer spring.
As shown the breech block is a trapdoor type that drops down on its pivots, is buttressed by a standing breech at the rear of the frame as is locked in place by a notch in the hammer that engages the block before the primer is struck. The two arms (or legs) that protrude forward from the breechblock are strictly pivot arms that allow the block to be opened and have nothing to do with the locking mechanism.
This particular rifle was made in Belgium sometime after 1893 and was exported to Austria and sold by a retailer in Vienna. (Nik Szailer & Comp. Wein) This retailer went out of business around 1910, so the gun was made sometime in the interim.
I was drawn to this by the overall seemingly higher quality of the finish and line engraving, the double set triggers and, when I checked the bore, I was sold….
I had heard of straight rifling but have never actually seen an example, even less owned one…..
I'm not exactly sure what it was supposed to accomplish, but it's kind of neat....
It is a Flobert chambered in 9mm Long Shot cartridge. These guns were popular in the 1890's through the early 20th century and came in basically two varieties.
The first being what was called a "Parlor" gun usually chambered in 4.5mm or 6mm BB cap. For those that didn't know, Flobert invented the Bulleted Breech Cap in the 1840's by, basically, inserting a round ball in the front of a standard percussion cap and used only the fulminate as a propellent. This evolved into the 22 Short that we know and was used in the first S&W Model 1 revolvers.
Later chambering of the Flobert were 7mm and 9mm rimfire with round ball, conical ball and shot being available. (The RB and CB rounds were much shorter than the shot cartridges.) The "Parlor" guns were intended for indoor parlor shooting while the larger versions were called "Garden" guns and were mainly meant for vermin control.
This piece uses the Warnant breeching system which is an actual locked breech, unlike the original Floberts that the hammer is the breech, held closed only by the strength of the hammer spring.
As shown the breech block is a trapdoor type that drops down on its pivots, is buttressed by a standing breech at the rear of the frame as is locked in place by a notch in the hammer that engages the block before the primer is struck. The two arms (or legs) that protrude forward from the breechblock are strictly pivot arms that allow the block to be opened and have nothing to do with the locking mechanism.
This particular rifle was made in Belgium sometime after 1893 and was exported to Austria and sold by a retailer in Vienna. (Nik Szailer & Comp. Wein) This retailer went out of business around 1910, so the gun was made sometime in the interim.
I was drawn to this by the overall seemingly higher quality of the finish and line engraving, the double set triggers and, when I checked the bore, I was sold….
I had heard of straight rifling but have never actually seen an example, even less owned one…..
I'm not exactly sure what it was supposed to accomplish, but it's kind of neat....
