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
Eyraud François
This attractive
open-frame pinfire revolver, probably in 7 or 9 mm caliber like its counterparts
found on the collector market, is a well-finished weapon: metal parts engraved
with floral motifs, a retractable trigger, and well-preserved light wood grips.
Its distinctive
feature lies in its downward barrel tilting system, which provides access to the
cylinder for loading and unloading... which explains the absence of a loading
door, which has become unnecessary. Although many inventions of international
gunmaking in the 19th century revolved around the same concept, it should be
noted that this system is rare on pinfire revolvers.
Although the
photos provide few markings, these are sufficient to identify the weapon:
- Saint-Étienne
hallmark on the cylinder, which is also stamped with the number 2.
- Patented by F.
Eyraud SGDG. This is a revolver of French origin, patented and produced by the
Saint-Étienne gunsmith François Eyraud. A website has described the genesis of
this weapon well:
We reproduce below
excerpts from this site:
"...the original inventor was
Jean-Baptiste Eyraud, a gunsmith by trade and inventor in his spare time, son of
Claude Eyraud, born in 1775 and already a gunsmith himself. He was active in
Saint-Étienne from 1825 to around 1860… The third generation of Eyrauds,
François, the creator of our weapon, through improvements and simplifications,
resulted in a final, much more practical revolver. It essentially retained an
open frame with a robust key that allowed for easy disassembly and access to the
cylinder, without any tools, for rapid reloading, while remaining rigid… The
patent for this weapon is dated April 1866 and can be dated around 1870/1880.
While not rare, it is quite uncommon.
Chris, HPH
