SINGLE-TRIGGER DOUBLE GUNS 



THE idea of a single trigger to double guns cannot be said 

 to have occurred to anyone as an original conception, 

 since it was natural that at the first attempt to build those toys 

 (as Colonel Thornton considered double guns, when he was 

 upon his celebrated Highland tour), the inventor must have 

 exercised some ingenuity to supply these first double guns with 

 two triggers. It was as natural to attempt to make double 

 barrels with one trigger as for a duck to swim. First, because 

 single barrels were the fashion, and second, because single-trigger 

 double pistols were made and were successful. It was, however, 

 at once discovered that the action of the double pistol would 

 not do ; it let off both the shoulder gun's barrels apparently as 

 one. For a century afterwards repeated attempts were made 

 to overcome this double discharge, and many patents were 

 taken out on the strength of the inventor having discovered 

 " the real, true cause " of the involuntary discharge of the second 

 barrel, by the pull off that was intended to actuate only the 

 first. However, the problem remained commercially unsolved 

 until Mr. Robertson, of Boss & Co., of St. James's Street, 

 overcame the difficulty, and took out a patent, about 1894, for 

 an action that prevented the unintentional double discharge. 

 The great success of this action led to some hundred patents 

 being taken out between that year and 1902. But most of them 

 were afterwards dropped, and found not to effect the prevention 

 of the double discharge for which they were designed. As a 

 matter of fact, the reason of the involuntary discharge of the 

 second barrel was not understood, not even by Mr. Robertson, 

 who had, by trial and error, arrived at a perfect system of 



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