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Some of the most beautiful work of this craftsman are in this book “The Francotte Dynasty”.

For more detail see: The Francotte Dynasty

Auguste Francotte

Company founded in 1810, especially activates between 1860 and 1914, established Rue Mont Saint Martin 61, in Liege.

It was taken again a few years ago by a Netherlander who apparently transferred the company to the Netherlands (the end of 1980, the author still had a telephone contact with the company in Liege, concerning a Martini-Francotte rifle in 22, in the vain hope to know the date of manufacture of it: the files were not already consultable any more...).

The company was one of the principal manufacturers of weapons of Liege during second half of the XIXe century, until 1914, when its activities were blocked by German occupation.

The Taylerson author announces that about 1890, not less than 150 models of revolvers were proposed by A. Francotte.

This last began its career with very good copies (on the basis of licence) of revolvers Adam, Tranter, Smith & Wesson. It also adopted the system of locking allotted to Pryse (the opening of the framework being carried out by the means of two vertical arms releasing two pins on both sides framework), even if it is not established that Pryse was the author.

According to Ian V Hogg, Francotte adopted also a system of stop of barrel allotted to Pryse, consisted a milled button assembled in front of the barrel: while turning it of a half-turn, one frees the axis of the barrel.

Francotte made also amendments to the Lefaucheux system, which enabled him to put thousands of revolvers "Lefaucheux-Francotte" on the market. Initially with cartridges with pin, then with cartridges with central percussion. Francotte also produced a number of military revolvers, like it model 1871 in 11 mm for the Swedish cavalry, or for Denmark: the model 1882 in 10 mm for the cavalry and the model 1886 in 9 mm for the officers.

The Francotte company was also a very important wholesaler, especially as from the years 1880, providing revolvers to arms manufacturers who affixed their names or their punches on these weapons. It is only by dismounting them that one can find the initial AF.

It is also announced that in the years 1890, Francotte was interested in the guns and produced a weapon in a gauge of 8 mm, with charger in the stick and a species of revolving cylinder head and a trigger with ring. One sold certainly some, but no specimen is known to date. With less than one reader...

Idem for a gun with four barrels, patented in England 15891/1885, but according to Ian V Hogg, it could be that the second model built by "Braendlin Armoury" is based on this model whose Francotte would have conceded the licence. What is on the other hand certain, it is that Francotte produced about 1912 a gun gauges of them 6,35 mm, whose production stopped in 1914. It is characterized in particular by the grooves from the slide located on the former part of the weapon.

The Francotte house also manufactured a number of rifle and shotguns (and rifles) based on the system Martiny, possibly renamed Martini-Francotte. Such rifles were still used in the huts of open shooting after the second world war.

With regard to FRANCOTTE, the last patents which I examined seem well to indicate that the improvements with the Martiny-Francotte rifles must be allotted, in all or partly, in Charles Francotte and not in Auguste. Let us return in Cesar…

I am not able to specify if Charles were the brother or the son of Auguste.

One of the many marks of Francotte.