Weapons from "friend Philibert"
Revolver "Brooklyn Bridge" Clement Charles Philibert. Caliber .31. 5 charges. Barrel length 30,5 cm. Photo by littlegun.be
Sing, have fun, friend Philibert!
Here in Algiers, as if in dreams,
Strange people are like chimeras
In bright fezzes and turbans.
In a smoky tavern you will involuntarily become sad
Above the letter of the beloved one.
Your heart will beat, you remember Paris
And the melody of the native country:
- On the road, on the road, the day of fun is over, it's time to go on a hike.
Aim for the chest, little Zouave, cheer!
For many days, believing in miracles, Suzanne is waiting,
She has blue eyes and a scarlet mouth.
Philibert Konstantin Podrevsky (1888–1930)
Here in Algiers, as if in dreams,
Strange people are like chimeras
In bright fezzes and turbans.
In a smoky tavern you will involuntarily become sad
Above the letter of the beloved one.
Your heart will beat, you remember Paris
And the melody of the native country:
- On the road, on the road, the day of fun is over, it's time to go on a hike.
Aim for the chest, little Zouave, cheer!
For many days, believing in miracles, Suzanne is waiting,
She has blue eyes and a scarlet mouth.
Philibert Konstantin Podrevsky (1888–1930)
stories about weapons. At one time, I really liked the Soviet film "Red Square", and ... a song from its first series. I think that this is one of the best films about the Civil War in Russia. Then I learned that the words of the song I liked were written by the poet Konstantin Podrevsky, and the text was much longer than what was sung. Then he became interested: is Philibert a name or a surname? It turned out it was both. See who likes what. “Were there gunsmiths named Philibert, and if so, what weapons did they produce and leave behind?”
The search was successful! It turns out that the gunsmith Clement Charles Philibert lived in Belgium at the end of the 1906th - beginning of the 1914th century and he was a very interesting person. So, the company of Charles Clement was registered in Liege from 1883 to 35. From 1893 until his death, he received at least 1912 patents for revolvers, pistols and rifles, and registered 14 trademarks between XNUMX and XNUMX. Here we will tell you about his weapons today ...
It's on the drum there: "Brooklyn Bridge"? Photo littlegun.be
And it happened that the well-known gunsmith Samuel Colt re-patented part of his American patents in Belgium, but he did not protect his patent from 1835 there, after which many Belgian gunsmiths began shamelessly copying his revolvers.
In order to maintain the quality of the brand and the image of his revolvers, he was forced to go to Liege and issue licenses to 11 gunsmiths there to make copies of his weapons. And they are easy to recognize, as all licensed copies have the official two-line "Colt Breveté" inscription on the barrel. But ... as always, there were people who, let's say, decided to continue to act at their own peril and risk. And the release of American "colts" in Belgium without a license was continued! And one of their producers just became Charles Clement.
The revolver he made was a cheap, unauthorized replica, nicknamed "The Brooklyn Bridge" by collectors because its barrel was engraved with a picture of a suspension bridge. It is clear that they had nothing to do with revolvers from the United States, and did not appear until the early 1890s, when collectors finally began to show interest in memorabilia from the Civil War.
Collectible revolver of the Confederate army. Fake, of course. Photo littlegun.be
And it is interesting that even those few copies that can be found today in the United States or in other countries, most likely, were brought there by collectors who visited Belgium, or Belgian immigrants who went to America to work! They had a variety of calibers: .28, .36 or .35, .44, and barrels of very different lengths.
Here it is: a Belgian fake Colt! Photo littlegun.be
The handles were usually made of wood, but very often of copal resin from the Congo (copal is actually young amber). Many revolvers were decorated with engraving, but its quality left much to be desired. It's funny that, despite its poor workmanship, this weapon has achieved some success and has been on sale for more than 25 years.
Significant inscription on the trunk! Photo littlegun.be
According to some authors, the production of these revolvers only ceased with the outbreak of the First World War and never resumed; according to other sources, some of them were produced until the 1930s for Germany with a view to subsequent re-export to African countries.
Although they were made by different gun makers (Charles Clement, Clement y Ronget, Julius Ronget, Dumolin, Schwarzenberg, and many other manufacturers unknown today), they all have an almost identical scene engraved on the drum: it is a bridge over a river, a train on a bridge, and several boats on the river. Since the bridge resembles Brooklyn, collectors have come to call these revolvers "Brooklyn Bridge". However, there is no evidence to support this nickname.
Most of the other markings are fictitious and completely unofficial.
In fact, most of these weapons were never tested and were more lethal to their users than to their potential opponents.
Today, in the Belgian and French arms markets, they are still relatively easy to find; they are all in poor condition, however, and are very cheap. Higher quality revolvers with the inscription "PATENTED COLT" on the barrel, made under license in the 1850s, have.
Revolver Clement "Guardian" ("Defender") of the sample 1878. Photo by littlegun.be
The drum from this revolver and cartridges for it. Photo littlegun.be
This is also the "Guardian" of 1878, but produced specifically for the American market. Caliber 12 mm. Photo littlegun.be
What else did Charles Philibert Clement release? And here's the thing: Lefochet's "Guardian" revolvers, easily recognizable by the tape "The Guardian model of 1878" engraved on the barrel and which is a trademark registered by Clement in Liège on December 27, 1880. Are revolvers for hairpin cartridges really popular in Europe during these years? Obviously, yes, because what no one buys, no one produces!
And Clement began to work "under the American" and released a revolver with the image of the building ... the White House on the handle. Because of this, this revolver was called the “White House”.
"The White House" by Clement Charles Philibert. Photo littlegun.be
Clément trademark on the handle. Photo littlegun.be
And this is the "White House"! Photo littlegun.be
Produced and pocket revolvers chambered for central ignition type "Bulldog". The weapon was completely chrome plated. Loading was carried out through the “Abadi door”, discharged with a ramrod on a rotary axis, like a revolver.
Nickel-plated "Bulldog" from Clement. Photo littlegun.be
It was a good quality revolver, caliber .320, with five chambers, a round barrel, a folding trigger and interlaced letters CC - Charles Clement's name - on the grip plates.
The last thing Clement designed before he died was a typically ladies' Fulgor Model 1907 pistol, which weighed only 300 grams and fired .25 caliber cartridges. Pistols chambered in 6,35 mm and 7,65 mm were also produced, collectively called "Model 1907".
"Fulgor" М1907. Photo by littlegun.be
The pistol was considered not very good, primarily because of its worst (compared to Browning pistols) design. Therefore, its appearance was immediately improved.
Model 1907 chambered in .25. Photo littlegun.be
Original design. Photo littlegun.be
In 1908, a new version of the 6,35 mm caliber went on sale. The main changes concerned the shape of the handle, which now had parallel edges rather than tapered ones. The Clément pistol was also known for the 5-mm cartridge of the Charola-Anitua pistol, which has already been described here.
TTX pistol "Clement" M 1908:
Caliber, mm: 6,35х15,5
Overall length: 117 mm
Width: 27 mm
Barrel length: 50 mm
Weight unloaded: 0,4 kg
Cartridges in the store: 6 pcs.
Then another "lady's pistol" M1912 appeared with a blowback and a return spring above the barrel. Moreover, since many at that time were afraid that when fired, the bolt could fly out in their face, a ledge was invented on the bolt frame, into which the bolt, moving back, just rested.
In this case, the shutter had a slot inside and was U-shaped. When recoiling, the bolt, which has a special internal slot, passes by the rear rack of the frame and extends quite far back.
Incomplete disassembly of the M1912 pistol. Photo littlegun.be
The fixed barrel, made integral with the frame, had 6 right-hand rifling. The barrel and recoil spring are hidden by a fixed shroud attached with a single screw to a lug at the rear of the frame. Single action trigger mechanism. The mechanical fuse box is located on the left side in the rear upper part of the frame.
Pistol M1912. The inscription on the shutter is clearly visible. Photo littlegun.be
Simple sights consist of a front sight located at the muzzle of a fixed casing, and a rear sight located on top of the rear rack of the frame. The weapons were fed with ammunition from a detachable box-type magazine with a single-row arrangement of 6 rounds.
Pistol "Fulgor" M1912 with a mother-of-pearl handle. Photo littlegun.be
"Fulgor" М1912. Photo by littlegun.be
The magazine latch is located on the left side of the lower part of the handle. The cheeks of the pistol grip are made of ebonite. On the left side of the casing there is a stamp in the form of the inscription "AUTOMATIC PISTOL CLEMENT'S PATENT".
Clément's end product was the "Model 1912"; after which he abandoned his original patents and made a standard 6,35 mm bolt-action pistol similar to the Browning M1906, except that it had no safety on the handle.
Revolver "Clement" 1912 with a suede holster-reticule. Photo littlegun.be
Pistols began to be bought, but then the First World War began, Clement himself died, as a result, the company did not survive the German occupation of Liege, and after 1914 Clement pistols were no longer produced. The "Clément" mark was used on a revolver produced in small numbers by the Neumann brothers between 1912 and 1914. Caliber .38 Special and easily recognizable thanks to the "CC" monogram stamped on the grips.
Information