Some of the most beautiful work of this craftsman are in this book “The Francotte Dynasty”.
For more detail see: The Francotte Dynasty
Francotte Auguste
This firearm seems to me to be quite rare. It is a
FRANCOTTE
revolving rifle chambered for the .500 Webley cartridge (or simply a .50
cartridge, but the .500 Webley fits the chambers).
Revolving
rifles are very collectible in the US, but generally they have either percussion
or pinfire actions. There were evidently a few other European center fire
revolving rifles made: I found one photo of a late 19th century Gasser revolving
rifle (centerfire) but no other information. And I believe there was a French
“Perrin” revolving rifle that was refused for service, evidently in 11mm.
Here is
the information I have :
Belgian Revolving Rifle manufactured by
FRANCOTTE.
Caliber:
.500 Webley, or .500 Tranter
Barrel:
21-1/2 inches (54.6 cm)
Overall
length: 38-3/8 inches (97.5 cm)
Number of
chambers: five
Marks
On the right side of the action:
Crown/ AF
On the side of the cylinder:
Crown/AF.
On the
front of the cylinder: Pre-1894 Liege proof, star/B
On top of
the barrel: E Paris, Buenos Aires
A
big thank you to my friend Richard and his Brother
