A Beringer Pistol Beatus Beringer was born in 1801 in Hangenbieten in the Bas-Rin department or region of North Eastern France. He worked in Paris and St Etienne 1835-1869. At an early age of shooting and designing, he sought to remedy hunters’ complaints. By Harvey Facer
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ometime ago I was offered this pistol and as a collector of firearms unusual, different or just curious looking, couldn’t resist. The seller had little idea of its origin and described the weapon as “an internal action percussion gun”. It looked like an oversized parlour pistol, probably of European origin, even though sporting a set of sights. The pistol has a heavy octagonal barrel, around 11 bore by 25cm long, a dark walnut butt, metal butt cap, a slender thumb hammer and a latched under-lever. There is considerable floral engraving embellishment and geometric pattern on the butt cap. The hammer activates an internal sliding pin and has half and full catch positions. Unlatching the lever and pushing it to the side rotates a vertical turret block by 90 deg. The block has a horizontal cylindrical hole through it, open at one end and having a spoked boss at the other. As a whole, the pistol appears well used, with light impact damage and wear, and crisp engraving.
Coincidentally, as I was researching, another member saw a gun with an identical action, in a deceased estate sale. He had no idea of its identity and also couldn’t resist. This was a long arm and not a pistol. Initial investigations revealed little, although I found one was sold in a London auction house some years before. Sold as unidentified. One observer thought it looked similar to mine. One was sold by an Australian dealer at a Bendigo show a little time after, again without identification but he felt it was the same gun. People assumed that the turret accepted only a small waxed or paper combustible cartridge. The barrel weight seemed disproportionate to its bore size. Many theories had been put up to its design or origin, noting there are no markings or proofing. French or Dutch being the most popular origin. I thought the pistol was French. There was no English proof or view marks. History shows Casimer Lefaucheaux took over management of Jean Samuel Pauly’s gun works in Paris in the 1820s. It left Pauly with plenty of time to play with his invention endeavours. Apart from the Pauly system
ARMS CAVALCADE 2020
AC2020_033-35 A Beringer Pistol v4.indd 33
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