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
BRITTE
Here is a beautiful
Britte
rifle with superimposed guns hence the name Superbritte. Nice butt in swan
collar. Serial number 219.
This
house from Liège has already been extensively mentioned on the site.
Too few
punches have been photographed, which is a great pity. It is a 16 caliber with
slightly shocked cannons. We see the EL, for the provisional event, a J under
asterisk for a controller, a crowned D, but not the crowned ELG, not the mention
of the calibre, not the annals, etc.
GP with the help of HPH
BRITTE
Very
beautiful and quality shotgun of Liège manufacture.
Description of the weapon :
- The barrels are juxtaposed, smooth, out of steel, of gauge 12 (casings of 70 mm).
- Locks are of hammerless type, opening by key “Top
lever” and safety with slide of the type
Galand
on the tail of breech.
- The stick out of wooden of walnut is worked “with English”.
- The forearm is of type with button.
- Engraving with English is said “to bouquets”.
Punches of tests
The weapon carries the punches of the proofhouse of Liege, namely:
ELG on star in an oval under crown: final acceptance post 1893.
T under star: countermark of the controller post 1877.
EL in English letters: provisional test, of use of 1852 to our days.
12-70 in an omega lying: gauge nominal and length of the casing, of use of 1924 to our days.
PV surmounted of a stylized lion: test with the powder without smoke, of use of 1898 to 1968.
1Kg 356: weight of the barrel which can draw from the powders without smoke (weapons smooth) to the gram near. In use of 1924 to our days.
Choke 18,4 - 18,3: chokes barrels: calibre to 22 cm of the breech. In use of 1924 to 1968.
c: yearly
letter (c lower-case underlined) of 1964.
Peron: inspection post 1853.
Markings
Mark "Verney Caron Liège" damascened with the fine gold on the tape separating the barrels is not at all the mark of the manufacturer but well that of the retailer. It was not rare at the time the large and small French manufacturers come to Liège to buy there weapons of quality and a modest cost price. What could be easier then to add its mark and to present the weapon to it at the sale with a prestigious signature?
This company was registered with the proofhouse of
Liège of 1924 to 1929 to be then taken again in 1929 by
Cordy Antoine.
The mark
Siemens Martin
steel Falla patend brazing is the grade of
steel used by the barrel factory of rifles
Jean Falla,
35 street New Bonne in Liège.
This company made use of disagreements steels for its
guns as Acier Comprimé CAP JF,
Nickel
Compound CAP JF and
POLDI Electro
Steel Kladno JF inter alia.
(See the page
Jean Falla
on our site).
B 394: in all logic the serial number.
Mark
EB belongs
according to me to establishments
Britte to
Vivegnis (see the site).
Figure 2 damascened with the fine gold states indeed that it is about the number 2 of an unfortunately odd pair.
I could not decipher the mark struck with the thunder
of the barrels, it perhaps acts of a mark of
Falla
but without certainty.
GG
BRITTE
Shotgun
to central percussion. The two barrels are juxtaposed (in table). Locks are of
type “hammerless” with key of opening “top lever”. The stick in walnut is worked
"with English".
The
weapon carries various punches of tests which I tried to decide between as
follows:
Proofhouse of Liege
Choke
18.3:
chokes barrels, gauged to 22 cm of the breech. In use in Liege of June 30th,
1924 before February 26th, 1968.
12 in a
rhombus:
gauge, of use from October 04th, 1898 to June 30th, 1924.
Proofhouse of London
Crowned
CP:
on the mechanism, ordinary test with the smoke-free powder.
NP
surmounted of an armed wing of a saber:
Ordinary test with the smoke-free powder on the barrel (London)
The
weapon carries the following marks:
Etablissements Britte Liège Belgique (Establishments
Britte Liege Belgium): it is the manufacturer of the weapon installed with
LIEGE-VIVEGNIS, 252 street of Cheratte by 1924. (See the site)
Médaille
d’or au grand prix de l’exposition universelle Bruxelles (Gold
medal with the Grand Prix of the World Fair Brussels): without comment. Probably
the exhibition of 1935.
Head of
eagle:
it would be about a mark of the manufacturer of barrels of rifles CAP Henri
street Jonruelle, 62 in Liege.
870:
probably the classification of the weapon.
Other
marks like: 3 ¼ TONS - 2 ¾ - U - E arrow is unknown for me.
GG
The
Britte firm still exists but does not manufacture any more weapons.
Here is
its Website: http://www.britte.be/
BRITTE
Here is
a certainly exceptional weapon, a Superbritte overlay like you don't find one
every X decades since the production, of origin in any case, will not exceed 250
to 300 copies according to the sources. Nice swan-necked stock.
In the
same kind of superimposed rifles with side opening, one will also quote the
later Pieper Actionless rifles (1947), but it is another history (see the book
of Michel Druart: "Les hommes, les armes et les machines du Chevalier Pieper &
Cie", 1859- 1957";, page 303 and following ones....).
The
markings
k:
letter of the year 1932;
1kg220:
weight of the barrel that can fire smokeless powders since 1924
12-70 in
omega lying: nominal size and chamber length since 1924
AC and z
under star: controller countermarks between 1877 and 1968
Lion on
PV: smokeless powder test between 1898 and 1968
ELG on
star in crowned oval: acceptance since 1893
EL:
Provisional test since 1852
CHOKE
18. 3 and 18. 2: guns choked at 22 cm of the breech between 1924 and 1968
CAP JF:
manufacturer of barrels Jean Falla, manufacturer of weapons and barrels in Liege
street Bonne Nouvelle 35. It used in particular the trade mark and engraved with
the wheel "eagle head CAP JF acier comprimé (compressed steel)" which one finds
on this rifle; it was about a steel with high resistance allowing the
manufacture of very light barrels. There is also a "ME" preceding the name,
which is most likely to be related to "Compressed Steel".
The same
Jean Falla had also developed a process for welding shotgun barrels:
5010:
I'm wondering about this number 5010 that you see twice on this rifle.
Suggestion: we know that the production figures of the Liege arms manufacturers
(and probably of others too) are "regularly" fanciful. For different reasons.
Consequently, given that the weapon was presented to the Proofhouse in 1932, at
the very beginning of the production (according to what I have read so far, see
below), I wonder if Britte did not start the numbering of the production at 5.
000: it could thus be the tenth copy.......but it is only a hypothesis.
About
Britte :
The patent 376297 which is mentioned on the rifle was deposited at the beginning of January 1931. For completeness, it should also be noted that this patent was followed in May of the same year by patent 379537.
I readily admit that there is a "problem"; since - according to the annals - the rifle was presented to the EB in 1932. But I have no explanation.
There
are also signed copies from renowned Liège houses such as Lebeau-Courally :
ou Masquelier :
GP avec l’aide de HPH
BRITTE S.A.
The company Britte Freres was created on February 2, 1896, and became Britte Company Ltd on September 17, 1923.
Gun Manufacturers- 252 rue Cheratte, in VIVEGNIS, then 27 rue Cheratte, in Vivegnis.
Liege Proof House (1950/.....)
This company registered from 1931 to 1939, three Belgian patents for a shotgun with superposed barrels and a manufacturing process of stoppers of army rifles.
Antoine Jocelin & GG
