Just fucking wow. Even the cleaning rod is made in a way that actually decorates the rifle, whoever designed this was not just a brilliant engineer but also an artist. I would never go to war with such a piece of fine art.
Lukegriz77 I'm guessing it became a prized displayed firearm. It certainly looked pretty enough to not want to wear down through use. Most guns in that era are hardly in such good condition.
rewtuser I was thinking that from the moment I saw it. Rifles never make me openly say 'wow' but this one certainly did. Thanks for posting this video, FW
rewtuser I was thinking that if middle earth advanced to an industrial revolution stage of development, this is what the elvish standard infantry rifle would look like.
reminds me of old posters for ocean liners from around the 1920 - 1930 period, you can really tell the designer wanted his rifle to be the best looking around, I would give my left ball to have it even if I never get to shoot it
+Phelim I saw an AR a few weeks back that had been given really nice wood furniture and parts, with a hunting rifle stock instead of the pistol grip and stock, it looked nice
This is going to sound weird but I'm getting some real 1950s vibes from this thing. I think it's the curves on the bolt and the fact that it definitely does not like it's 130 years old (it's so clean and shiny). Also just the fact that it's so weird for its time period. I love it.
It is still a fascinating operating system . Rotat the bolt about 90°and the bolt handl will be to the side . The locking pieces work very similar to a Boss O/U
Very elegant, with beautiful wood, and exquisite workmansip. But what possessed someone to put the bolt handle on like that? All knowledge of this rifle probably vanished when the paperwork was lost or destroyed. It deserves a chamber cast to try to identify it further.
that is easily the best looking bolt action I have ever seen, smooth curved lines and high quality maple. when a rifle looks that good who cares if it isn't a mauser
it really does look as if someone just left this weapon inside an airtight box and someone just found it in the present time. It truly is perfectly preserved.
got a feeling either a family member of the designers or someone on the trial board was given it. Overall its a rather interesting design and frankly wonder why it didn't end up in obscurity. Maybe cost too much? Maybe didn't shoot well? Who knows.
This is easily the most beautiful rifle I have ever seen. If I was to collect, I would search high and low for this one. Alas, I cannot afford such a piece, but it is a pleasure to see it. Thank you, Ian.
Surprising that the circular locking system concept not revisited by arms developers in the self-loading rifle development. Linkage to a gas pistol and appropriate secondary features would make for an interesting self loader, especially when streamlined. As always, very interesting, informative video of a truly forgotten weapon. Thanks!
Somehow that looks both oldschool and futuristic... like steampunk I guess? Either way, very cool! Them Belgians are crafty buggers, as reflected in their famous Fabrique Nationale company. Awesome vid!
You said that it looked rather funky, but I'd say that it's quite pretty looking. The machining on the receiver and bolt is just flawless and the wood has a beautiful finish on it.
That gun is rediculously clean for the age and incredibly beautiful for a military firearm. As others have said, it made me "wow" out loud. thank you for showing this to us.
This must be one of the ten most interesting video you have made. Very fascinating rifle- I guess some would call it ugly, but in my eyes, it's just beautiful. The bolt is just mind-blowingly cool.
I thought it was just me, but it seems we can all agree that this rifle is absolutely stunning. I love how smooth the action seems to move once the handle releases
This beautiful piece looks years ahead of its time. Regardless of time - imagine this beauty hanging beside a Whitney Wolverine.... those wonderful elegant curves, the forgotten timeless-ness. What a wonderful match
Beautifully made. Even the walnut is fit for a fine sporting rifle or a shotgun. The level of workmanship on this piece is outstanding! and the bolt action is very fast.
Beautiful rifle. The finish is like a high-grade commercial one, very nice. Even seems too nice for a military prototype, especially the checkering. Enjoying all your old guns videos, Ian, and especially the technical aspects. One minor clarification: The word "Manufacture" in (older) French means Factory in this context, not "production of goods" as it might otherwise and as the identical English word suggests. Liegeoise means "in Liege" or "from Liege", an adjective. So the marking means "Liege Firearms Factory", a specific company located (presumably) in the city of Liege, not a generic "firearm made in Liege" meaning. Similar names would be the MAT, MAB etc in France.
Thanks Ian. That is a very interesting rifle. It's very neat to see actions on rifles that were proposed during the begining of the bolt action age of military rifles. I don't think I would want to fire a gun with that action on a long term basis as it does not look like a very strong lock up. I have seen the wounds on people who have had failures on Blazer straight pulls and it cured me of trusting that type of action.
A beautiful piece. I would guess that it was actually designed as a sporting rifle and the manufacturer decided "what the heck" and entered the trials. I'm a little surprised it didn't bring a higher price. One would think that the bidding for such a beautiful, unusual, one of a kind rifle would have been very spirited.
Very nice and well preserved rifle! To be from 1888 it has a very accurate, very precise mechanics, it seems made with modern machines. Congratulations
The mechanism of this rifle is similar to the Nordenfelt QF 6pdr artillery piece, using rollers to lock the piece instead of a conventional rotating bolt. I'd guess that that design element may have been borrowed from the Nordenfelt, given that they both appeared at roughly the same time.
Little mistake in the understanding of the markings. The right side reads " Patented Engh system model 1888", and the left reads " Liege ( the city ) firearms manufacture "
Looks very beautiful indeed, aesthetically it looks kinda art nouveau-inspired, however, this rifle is from 1888, which is ~5 years before the art nouveau period started.
Interesting how many people were as amazed by the looks and machine work. I heard lots of people guess 8mm level but my feeling is the guy that made that would have a proprietary cartridge. Every single other thing about it is completely original and I doubt the cartridge would be different. Mauser the obvious choice but that's the one I would take home.
Wow. Never seen one that old that is so nice. Beautiful wood too. I bet it is a prototype thatcwas never fired, or fired very little and cleaned thoroughly before it was archived. Maybe they changed some things on the slated production version? The bolt, in the white, looks brand new. Unusual locking system. People were still trying things before the full ascendancy of Mauser,no doubt. The bolt handle is very strange, but i like it. Sort of a butterknife, but with a knob and at about a 70 degree angle. I always wondered how much dirt and grunge gets in through the bottom opening of the mag well in a Mannlicher style clip system. My guess is it's not too bad, or there would not have been so many different rifle styles which used it over the years. Great video as always. Thank you
I know it's been said a hundred times here but I feel compelled to say it again. This is an absolutely beautiful rifle. It looks more like a very expensive, high end deer rifle than a 1880s military trials rifle. Was this even used in the trials? It looks to be in too perfect condition. Like it was manufactured and immediately stuck into museum storage for the next 130 years.
Beautiful workmanship and fit and finish look great. The bolt is way to complicated and doubt it would be rugged enough for a battle rifle. A very interesting choice to review, Thanks !
That is a very sharply designed rifle. Looks like what I would expect from the high end Browning or Steyr deer rifles. And I'm sure that if Browning or someone was making that today, the quality would fetch $2500 or more each. I could just imagine how great it would look in stainless with custom engraved scroll work on the receiver.
I've gotta say, it's a very pretty rifle. Probably due in large part to the good condition but still very smooth and sleek looking. Even the bolt looks awesome.
Wow, I love the look of this action! It would be awesome to develop a smaller caliber version of this and several other unique action rifles and handguns from WWI to the mid 80’s.
A dutch gun magazine, did a special on the Belgian '89 Mauser, including a lengthy article about all the trials and some tables with test results, somewhere in the 90s.. I could dig in my library to see if this rifle is mentioned.
I rarely admire guns just for shapes and looks, except for the engravings on older ones - and then it's purely to the talent of the one who engraved them. This one though... Damn, i like it so much, i'd never foul it up with shooting! Love at first sight, i guess...
Just FYI, "Manufacture Liegoise d'armes a feu" means "Liege firearm manufacture" Liege being a city in Belgium. I don't know it for sure, but it seams that this is a "made in Liege" stamp more than a brand name as you are implying it is. "Liegoise" literally means "from Liege", just as you would say "a Belgian rifle".
TheCarlos840 To clarify, It's not a branding to indicate place of origin, that would be stamped on any and all guns smithed in Liège, but the name pf an industrial concern of sorts, founded in 1866, as a shareholding society. "Manufacturé à X" would mean what you implied, an indication of origin, "made in X", but that's not what we have here! Manufacture with no accent on the e is just the French word traditionally used dating back to the 17th century royal Manufactures to describe a vast enterprise that was state sanctionned, at first by the King, then the republic, empire, etc... In France that term wasn't used for pirvate gunsmiths but for state owned weapons factories mainly catering, at least at first, to the army, navy, etc (there where also manufactures of rugs, tappetries, glassblowing, porcelain, etc. either because it was essential to the state (weapons, etc) or when it was a very lucrative activity, but hard to set up, or that would profit from large scale production (for example Venice was good at all things glass related, mirror making, etc, it was really lucrative, France wanted a piece of that cake, but to get artisans with the knowledge to do that, the French Kingdom had to pay and protect Venician exiles to allow them to set up shop without fear of retribution as prior to this, usually Venician Glass Makers where received strong suggestions to return to Venice "or else..." They where founded by decree, either by the kingom, the republic or the empire, depending on the timeframe, and weapon making manufactures where set up in traditional gunsmithing cities, starting at around the times where actual relatively standardized patterns for guns or blade weapons that where put in military use arose! When numerous production of a new pattern was to be made, and no pattern was beeing retired, an new manufacture was set up to supply that demand. At times where comunication and document reproduction weren't exactly easy and exact, it was found to be easier to approve such or such pattern for a determined weapon proposed by x or y manufacture, and to have it made there in one place, at least at first to ensure less deviations from the pattern and an "easy" time fitting the pieces, rather than to have distributed manufacturing (hammers made there, sears, here, etc) Even without the neato concept of interchangeable pièces, to have guns that where relatively uniform across the entire army wasn't exactly an easy task with somewhat varying measuring units across the land (before the metric system) Mass produced guns and swords have been hand fitted affairs at least up until the mid 19th century. Aaaand I deviated much from my original point...
Very sleek, great looking checkering. I wouldn't have been surprised if you told me this was a hunting rifle made for British lords or something.
Nukle0n Nice quality wood as well, good flaming on the top piece of maple.
Just fucking wow. Even the cleaning rod is made in a way that actually decorates the rifle, whoever designed this was not just a brilliant engineer but also an artist.
I would never go to war with such a piece of fine art.
That rifle is just gorgeous
Yep! So many smooth lines!
Art piece, not a killing device.
libertarian commie it just needs a different charging handle
Thanks SCP foundation!
Damn skippy it is!
The rifle looks pristine, like it was hardly ever fired and perfectly preserved after the trials
Lukegriz77 I'm guessing it became a prized displayed firearm. It certainly looked pretty enough to not want to wear down through use. Most guns in that era are hardly in such good condition.
+V Guyver though im not going to life if I bought it I couldent help putting a few rounds through it since its 8mm
Andre Krumins I agree. If you have a competently made gun, you should at least fire it off a couple of times.
+Lukegriz77 Even if it wasn't used at all it's condition looks like it was built yesterday. 1888! wow, hard to believe.
Censor Duck
Thanks for the laugh mate.
Beyond interesting, I think that thing is absolutely beautiful. The lines are very elegant for a battle rifle.
rewtuser I was thinking that from the moment I saw it. Rifles never make me openly say 'wow' but this one certainly did. Thanks for posting this video, FW
+rewtuser it is absolutely beautiful
rewtuser I was thinking that if middle earth advanced to an industrial revolution stage of development, this is what the elvish standard infantry rifle would look like.
+rewtuser
Reminds me of the new benelli autoloading shotgun... heh
You're right. The machining work is absolutely superb!
Just a gorgeous rifle. Those lines and the bolt were just smooth and flowing. Kinda art deco in a way. Beautiful specimen.
reminds me of old posters for ocean liners from around the 1920 - 1930 period, you can really tell the designer wanted his rifle to be the best looking around, I would give my left ball to have it even if I never get to shoot it
I know that right. Just beautiful lines and woodwork. Left nut would be gone to own one for sure
This rifle and a jaguar e-type then i'll die happy, no ar-15 can look this good no matter how many flashlights and grips it has taped onto it
Micheal Higgins damn right man
+Phelim I saw an AR a few weeks back that had been given really nice wood furniture and parts, with a hunting rifle stock instead of the pistol grip and stock, it looked nice
This is going to sound weird but I'm getting some real 1950s vibes from this thing. I think it's the curves on the bolt and the fact that it definitely does not like it's 130 years old (it's so clean and shiny). Also just the fact that it's so weird for its time period. I love it.
It is still a fascinating operating system . Rotat the bolt about 90°and the bolt handl will be to the side .
The locking pieces work very similar to a Boss O/U
What a beautiful rifle. It just oozes fine workmanship.
MrBanzoid I know right
Very elegant, with beautiful wood, and exquisite workmansip. But what possessed someone to put the bolt handle on like that? All knowledge of this rifle probably vanished when the paperwork was lost or destroyed. It deserves a chamber cast to try to identify it further.
@@richardkirka5977 Well the vertical rotating locking lugs nessecitates the vertical bolt handle, it's a pretty neat not-quite-straightpull system.
Good gravy, that rifle is beautiful.
The Social Regressive My thoughts exactly!
Definitely is, the lines just flow seamlessly. I wonder if they worked out what it was chambered in?
indeed this thing is sexy as hell
that is easily the best looking bolt action I have ever seen, smooth curved lines and high quality maple. when a rifle looks that good who cares if it isn't a mauser
Perfect condition. Especially considering that it was made in 1888.
it really does look as if someone just left this weapon inside an airtight box and someone just found it in the present time.
It truly is perfectly preserved.
got a feeling either a family member of the designers or someone on the trial board was given it. Overall its a rather interesting design and frankly wonder why it didn't end up in obscurity. Maybe cost too much? Maybe didn't shoot well? Who knows.
The rifle has a neat futuristic look too it, hard to believe it is an 1888. The machine work and the lines on the gun are absolutely beautiful.
Fantastic looking rifle,lovely,crisp sounding action. Deserved much more appreciation in its time. Certainly have plenty today!
That thing has an almost art-deco feel to it, and is one of the most beautiful rifles I have ever seen. I'd love to own a modern version of it.
This is easily the most beautiful rifle I have ever seen. If I was to collect, I would search high and low for this one. Alas, I cannot afford such a piece, but it is a pleasure to see it. Thank you, Ian.
Incredible machine work done to create that rifle. That bolt went back and forth like glass.
What amazes me is the condition of this piece. Also, the quality of fabrication is obviously excellent. Thanks, Ian!
The quality of the finish and the execution is outstanding
What a beautiful rifle. As a lefty shooter, straight pull bolt actions are all great but this one in particular is a work of art as well.
Surprising that the circular locking system concept not revisited by arms developers in the self-loading rifle development. Linkage to a gas pistol and appropriate secondary features would make for an interesting self loader, especially when streamlined. As always, very interesting, informative video of a truly forgotten weapon. Thanks!
I love the sleek, slim and curvy lines of this rifle. Very nicely machined and finished.
Damn, the man who made the rifle truly took pride in his work...
Somehow that looks both oldschool and futuristic... like steampunk I guess? Either way, very cool! Them Belgians are crafty buggers, as reflected in their famous Fabrique Nationale company. Awesome vid!
NormanMatchem i saw your lee enfield video
Benjamin Macdonald
Right on, which one was that, Speed of the SMLE? That Lee bolt, man... smooth as silk.
NormanMatchem yeah, speed of it
Very nice clean looking rifle. That bolt assembly is a machining work of art.
You said that it looked rather funky, but I'd say that it's quite pretty looking. The machining on the receiver and bolt is just flawless and the wood has a beautiful finish on it.
That gun is rediculously clean for the age and incredibly beautiful for a military firearm. As others have said, it made me "wow" out loud. thank you for showing this to us.
This must be one of the ten most interesting video you have made. Very fascinating rifle- I guess some would call it ugly, but in my eyes, it's just beautiful. The bolt is just mind-blowingly cool.
That rifle is gorgeous. The wood grain on it's is so clean.
That bolt design is super interesting, I'd be interested to see if any other firearms ever used it
I thought it was just me, but it seems we can all agree that this rifle is absolutely stunning. I love how smooth the action seems to move once the handle releases
This beautiful piece looks years ahead of its time. Regardless of time - imagine this beauty hanging beside a Whitney Wolverine.... those wonderful elegant curves, the forgotten timeless-ness. What a wonderful match
What a beautiful piece of craftsmanship! Impeccable condition.
man that is beautiful
4:06 This sentence here made me wonder what it would be like if Ian hosted the Slingshot Channel and Jörg hosted Forgotten Weapons.
I would love to see that crossover!
I always enjoy your videos. Thanks for all your hard work tracking these wonderful guns down and bringing the history of them to us.
Beautifully made. Even the walnut is fit for a fine sporting rifle or a shotgun. The level of workmanship on this piece is outstanding! and the bolt action is very fast.
Probably the most graceful military rifle I’ve ever seen.
its incredibly beautiful, the craftsmanship back then was second to none
Dont know why I have not seen this vid before. This rifle is a real beauty. Looks like it was well made. The finish is crazy nice.
seems like a very elegant design. Thanks for showing it to us Ian.
Wow, this is actually a very sleek and beautiful rifle, didn't expect that.
Beautiful rifle. The finish is like a high-grade commercial one, very nice. Even seems too nice for a military prototype, especially the checkering. Enjoying all your old guns videos, Ian, and especially the technical aspects. One minor clarification: The word "Manufacture" in (older) French means Factory in this context, not "production of goods" as it might otherwise and as the identical English word suggests. Liegeoise means "in Liege" or "from Liege", an adjective. So the marking means "Liege Firearms Factory", a specific company located (presumably) in the city of Liege, not a generic "firearm made in Liege" meaning. Similar names would be the MAT, MAB etc in France.
Apart from the 'funky' bolt handle this thing looks absolutely gorgeous!
In my opinion, a beautiful rifle. very streamlined and elegant but still maintains a simple appearance.
Beautiful workmanship. It's worth having just as a piece of industrial art.
Thanks Ian. That is a very interesting rifle. It's very neat to see actions on rifles that were proposed during the begining of the bolt action age of military rifles. I don't think I would want to fire a gun with that action on a long term basis as it does not look like a very strong lock up. I have seen the wounds on people who have had failures on Blazer straight pulls and it cured me of trusting that type of action.
That rifle looks impressive. That is a serious bolt locking mechanism.
A beautiful piece. I would guess that it was actually designed as a sporting rifle and the manufacturer decided "what the heck" and entered the trials. I'm a little surprised it didn't bring a higher price. One would think that the bidding for such a beautiful, unusual, one of a kind rifle would have been very spirited.
Absolutely beautiful piece of industrial history!
And a good video, as always.
Possibly the prettiest firearm I've seen on this channel so far, and with quite a neat bolt assembly too.
Very nice and well preserved rifle! To be from 1888 it has a very accurate, very precise mechanics, it seems made with modern machines. Congratulations
Super jealous of whoever got this, probably one of the nicest looking rifles ive seen
That bolt is beautiful by itself !
Very elegant and fluid looking. Great video as usual!
That thing is beautiful! And in such great shape after over 120 years!
What a beautiful piece of engineering!
It's absolutely beautiful. Still shocked this never took off
May not be the best weapon ever, but it surely looks elegant.
The mechanism of this rifle is similar to the Nordenfelt QF 6pdr artillery piece, using rollers to lock the piece instead of a conventional rotating bolt. I'd guess that that design element may have been borrowed from the Nordenfelt, given that they both appeared at roughly the same time.
That is a beautiful looking rifle. Lovely wood and very fine finish on it.
If any rifle can be called pretty, it's this one.
Little mistake in the understanding of the markings. The right side reads " Patented Engh system model 1888", and the left reads " Liege ( the city ) firearms manufacture "
That's a truly lovely rifle, and looks very well machined.
What a beautiful rifle- I just cannot get over how nice the woodwork is!
Looks very beautiful indeed, aesthetically it looks kinda art nouveau-inspired, however, this rifle is from 1888, which is ~5 years before the art nouveau period started.
Sweet baby gun Jesus, look at the craftsmanship! The polishing, fit and finish rival anything I've ever seen.
Weird design, but beautifully build. The machine work is outstanding.
Interesting how many people were as amazed by the looks and machine work. I heard lots of people guess 8mm level but my feeling is the guy that made that would have a proprietary cartridge. Every single other thing about it is completely original and I doubt the cartridge would be different. Mauser the obvious choice but that's the one I would take home.
This rifle really looks gorgeous.
This rifle is gorgeous and I love the sound of the action.
Wow. Never seen one that old that is so nice. Beautiful wood too. I bet it is a prototype thatcwas never fired, or fired very little and cleaned thoroughly before it was archived. Maybe they changed some things on the slated production version? The bolt, in the white, looks brand new. Unusual locking system. People were still trying things before the full ascendancy of Mauser,no doubt. The bolt handle is very strange, but i like it. Sort of a butterknife, but with a knob and at about a 70 degree angle. I always wondered how much dirt and grunge gets in through the bottom opening of the mag well in a Mannlicher style clip system. My guess is it's not too bad, or there would not have been so many different rifle styles which used it over the years. Great video as always. Thank you
I know it's been said a hundred times here but I feel compelled to say it again.
This is an absolutely beautiful rifle.
It looks more like a very expensive, high end deer rifle than a 1880s military trials rifle. Was this even used in the trials? It looks to be in too perfect condition. Like it was manufactured and immediately stuck into museum storage for the next 130 years.
It really is beauiful. I believe it turned out to be to expensive for the military,...but that's just a guess
Beautiful workmanship and fit and finish look great. The bolt is way to complicated and doubt it would be rugged enough for a battle rifle.
A very interesting choice to review, Thanks !
That is a very sharply designed rifle. Looks like what I would expect from the high end Browning or Steyr deer rifles. And I'm sure that if Browning or someone was making that today, the quality would fetch $2500 or more each. I could just imagine how great it would look in stainless with custom engraved scroll work on the receiver.
That rifle has some seriously beautiful machining and styling
I've gotta say, it's a very pretty rifle. Probably due in large part to the good condition but still very smooth and sleek looking. Even the bolt looks awesome.
Wow, I love the look of this action! It would be awesome to develop a smaller caliber version of this and several other unique action rifles and handguns from WWI to the mid 80’s.
One of the most elegant rifles I have ever seen.
That bolt style seems like it would be a very fast shooting rifle in the hands of a well trained soldier.
Not only good looking but sounded solid in the action being worked.
That video was oddly satisfying to watch. Such an elegant weapon, from a more civilized age.
That is hands down the most beautiful firearm I've ever seen!
Anyone else think this was a hunting rifle,it looks way to nice to be a military rifle
It is a military rifle (not officially) but was supposed to be. I would definitely want it as a hunting rifle though! It's absolutely beautiful!
A dutch gun magazine, did a special on the Belgian '89 Mauser, including a lengthy article about all the trials and some tables with test results, somewhere in the 90s.. I could dig in my library to see if this rifle is mentioned.
Looks like brand new. Amazing after all those years.
What an exquisite firearm. It looks incredibly well made!
Amazing condition, as in new out of the box. whoever buys this rifle will have a prize indeed.
I rarely admire guns just for shapes and looks, except for the engravings on older ones - and then it's purely to the talent of the one who engraved them. This one though... Damn, i like it so much, i'd never foul it up with shooting! Love at first sight, i guess...
Beautiful rifle and in very great condition.
Gorgeous streamlined rifle! In great shape and that checkering and woodgrain is beautiful! It's something a steampunk astronaut would carry! :P
The condition was spectacular. It looks like it was made yesterday and it's a 127 years old.
This is the kind of rifle I'd like to see someone reproduce, for the unique mechanism and the stunning looks.
That is a GORGEOUS looking rifle!
Just FYI, "Manufacture Liegoise d'armes a feu" means "Liege firearm manufacture" Liege being a city in Belgium. I don't know it for sure, but it seams that this is a "made in Liege" stamp more than a brand name as you are implying it is. "Liegoise" literally means "from Liege", just as you would say "a Belgian rifle".
TheCarlos840 Yep...much like we refer to "Springfield".
TheCarlos840
To clarify, It's not a branding to indicate place of origin, that would be stamped on any and all guns smithed in Liège,
but the name pf an industrial concern of sorts, founded in 1866, as a shareholding society.
"Manufacturé à X" would mean what you implied, an indication of origin, "made in X", but that's not what we have here!
Manufacture with no accent on the e is just the French word traditionally used dating back to the 17th century royal Manufactures to describe a vast enterprise that was state sanctionned, at first by the King, then the republic, empire, etc...
In France that term wasn't used for pirvate gunsmiths but for state owned weapons factories mainly catering, at least at first, to the army, navy, etc
(there where also manufactures of rugs, tappetries, glassblowing, porcelain, etc. either because it was essential to the state (weapons, etc) or when it was a very lucrative activity, but hard to set up, or that would profit from large scale production (for example Venice was good at all things glass related, mirror making, etc, it was really lucrative, France wanted a piece of that cake, but to get artisans with the knowledge to do that, the French Kingdom had to pay and protect Venician exiles to allow them to set up shop without fear of retribution as prior to this, usually Venician Glass Makers where received strong suggestions to return to Venice "or else..."
They where founded by decree, either by the kingom, the republic or the empire, depending on the timeframe, and weapon making manufactures where set up in traditional gunsmithing cities, starting at around the times where actual relatively standardized patterns for guns or blade weapons that where put in military use arose!
When numerous production of a new pattern was to be made, and no pattern was beeing retired, an new manufacture was set up to supply that demand.
At times where comunication and document reproduction weren't exactly easy and exact, it was found to be easier to approve such or such pattern for a determined weapon proposed by x or y manufacture, and to have it made there in one place, at least at first to ensure less deviations from the pattern and an "easy" time fitting the pieces, rather than to have distributed manufacturing (hammers made there, sears, here, etc)
Even without the neato concept of interchangeable pièces, to have guns that where relatively uniform across the entire army wasn't exactly an easy task with somewhat varying measuring units across the land (before the metric system)
Mass produced guns and swords have been hand fitted affairs at least up until the mid 19th century.
Aaaand I deviated much from my original point...
This is in astonishingly good condition for being over 120 years old.
Clean lines, tight machining, sleek design, if you curved the bolt handle just a bit downwards this would make a fine gun.
Very modern for 1888 and excellent condition. I wonder where it’s been hiding all these years.
Most beautiful firearm i have ever seen. What a beauty....
Beautiful
Fantastic rifle! I love it; can't afford to even think of owning it, but if I could...
what an Extraordinariat elegant system, really appreciate it! Never Seen sth like that before, thank you, Ian. Again :-)