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

Sometime ago I was off ered this pistol and as a collector of firearms unusual, diff erent 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

“a pair of Beringer pistols”

and the Pinfire system, many strange developments evolved. Only enhanced by the inclusion to the group by Johann Nikolous von Dreyse and the development of his needle fire system.

Completely diverse creations emerged, not just limited to firearms, - monospan bridges, airships and self-contained cartridges just some.

My early belief was that this pistol or pistol’s action could have come from this eccentric trio consortium from 1820 to 1850, loosely corresponding to the appearance of my treasured enigma.

Then by chance, “a pair of Beringer pistols” were listed in an Italian auction house. Their action looking remarkably like mine.

They were described as rare, made by Frenchman Beatus Beringer, 7mm smoothbore, 15cm octagonal barrels with gilt markings of “Canon a Ruban D’Acier”. Probably French made circa 1850.

Another surfaced around the same time with the gilt marking “Crespi a Pavie Beringer”.

“loading percussion rifl e by Karl Haberda”

In 2017 in another auction at Czerny’s in Italy a Beringer System Breech loading percussion rifle by Karl Haberda was sold. The rifle was described as octagonal, micro rifled, 8 mm cal. barrel signed in silver “KARL HABERDA IN KRUMAU”, provided with a chiselled, iron rear sight, and silver and iron front sight; iron frame engraved with floral motif, provided with a revolving powder chamber which, when rotated in a transverse position, allows rifle loading. The stock was in two parts with a micro-checkered grip, iron mounts engraved en-suite, tang and trigger guard (which also serves as an opening lever of the power chamber) chiselled with bas-relief steinbock and wild boar and an iron ramrod. Johann Haberda in Krumau, was a gunsmith of Price Schwarzenberg, and probably a relative.

The photo from the Czerny’s catalogue is illustrated. The rifle was described as from Bohemia, in the third quarter of the 19th Century.

My redirected research, found Beatus Beringer was born in 1801 in Hangenbieten in the Bas-Rhin 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 of “inconveniences” of the early gun locks and studied the nature of fulminating powders. In 1832 he patented his gun action charged with fulminating powder. The powder being encapsulated in a small moulded, red copper, flexible capsule.

The ball did not need sealing against the powder as previously was the case.

The design prevented gas escape and protected the chamber from destructive corrosion.

The design principle was not lost on many other gun makers, including Pauly, Lefaucheaux and Dreyse.

Beatus Beringe at some stage joined the Pauly group and the experimental group became four. References

With this connection it is not hard to see why Beringer also worked at refining examples of the pinfire system. In fact, it was Beringer’s pinfire, not Lefaucheaux’s model which was bought by John Blanch in 1855. This was improved in London, and later became Eley’s model.

The Dreyse needlefire system invention was plagued with gas leakage problems. Beringer employed the needlefire design with his capsule inside the rotating turret action. First with a powder only capsule and separate ball, then with an allinclusive ball and powder capsule.

The firing needle, or “quill”, being retracted by its connection to a dummy hammer, giving the gun the appearance of a standard percussion fired device.

Although the Beatus Beringer system was around for only a short period and in very limited production, it is recognised as a forerunner to our modern centre

fire system. 1. Neue Stockel 2. Czernys

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