Some of the most beautiful work of this craftsman, and many others, are in this book “Liège Gunmakers through their Work. 1800 - 1950”.
For more detail see: LIEGE GUNMAKERS
Bonhomme & David
Here are
two revolvers featuring uncommon systems:
- One
remarkable loading gate system involving a pin that the hammer locks in order to
avoid any unintended percussion.
- And
above all a mobile prt added to the ejection rod, that causes the cylinder to
turn a little.
Two
Bonhomme are registered in the Who's who:
- Bonhomme F., rue
Cathédrale, Liège in 1910.
Holder of
one patent covering a hunting shotgun.
- Bonhomme Guillaume,
gunmaker. Voie de Liège 11 in Herstal.
Holder of
6 patents granted between 1870 and 1876, one of which together with David
Mathieu for an improvement to revolvers.
The MAL
guide gives us two interesting details:
1.Pg 290,
index 30 ref MAL 5100: refers to Lefaucheux pinfire revolvers featuring an
'automatic' Bonhomme & David extraction system.
2.Pg 307,
index 65 Ref MAL 5715 about central fire 11 mm cal weapons featuring an
'automatic ejector rod that turns the cylinder one chamber at a time while
pushing back the cylinder (Bonhomme).
OPEN
FRAME REVOLVER
Overall
length 185 mm
Barrel
length 82 mm
Cylinder
length 31 mm
Centerfire .320 cal
Full
octagonal barrel
Barrel
lug screwed to the frame base
Blued
folding trigger
Blued
hammer
Engraved
frame and cylinder
Markings:
On left side of the barrel: Bonhomme Brevetés
Backside
cylinder: ELG* in oval and star over Z
Right
side breech: star over Z
Working:
The
loading gate has an uncommon small push-in bolt. Pushing it in frees the gate
and
allows
pushing it upwards.
The latte
movement pushes back the hammer to avoid any percussion.
Ejection
system (the mot interesting feature): the long ejector rod has a quite large
flat at
the head. On the back side, the rod features a small plot that causes the
cylinder to turn
1/6 of a
revolution when the rod is pushed in.
SOLID
FRAME REVOLVER
Overall
length 185 mm
Barrel
length 92 mm (intstead of 82 like the open frame one)
The
identical overall length despite the longer barrel is due to the different shape
of the grip (birdshead shape on this one)
Cylinder
length 31 mm
Central
fire .320 caliber
Ejection
rod length still 56 mm however it looks shorter due to the longer barrel
Partly
octagonal-partly round barrel
Solid
frame and barrel lug, with an added bolt for disassembling of the cylinder
Loading
gate and folding trigger yellow
Markings:
Only difference is star above T instead of star above M
Serial
number (??) 2160
Working
Absolutely identical on both weapons.
Synthesis of mail exchanges between GG and Pierre A.
Bonhomme & David
Here's a six-shot revolver, spike cartridges, probably
7 mm. It was made by
Bonhomme, who put
his name on the loading door. We also see the initials
BD
on the right side of the barrel.
The ejection rod was the subject of a patent filed by
Bonhomme and David.
Markings
ELG on
star in oval : acceptance between 1846 and 1893
K under
asterisk: countermark of a controller between 1877 and 1968.
Guillaume
Bonhomme and Mathieu David
filed patent 040843 on November 13, 1876, which is shown below. They then filed
a patent for improvement 041286 on January 15, 1877, but it does not concern us.
Guillaume
Bonhomme
(Voie de Liège 11 in Herstal) also filed other patents between 1870 and 1878.
Mathieu
David (son)
was also a gunsmith at Herstal, rue Hayeneux 76.
GP with the help of HPH.
