). Not sure exactly when it was made. Early 20th c. Just pre-WW1 maybe?You pull the hooky thing on the trigger guard down which 1) opens the action by dropping the barrel and 2) cocks the piece.
The double trigger is called a "set trigger". I knew of them but this is the first one I ever examined. A trigger might require 5 or more pounds of pull to cause the weapon to fire. A double action revolver or a semi-auto that is double action for the first shot (like a Beretta) might require as much as 12 lbs of pull. For a target gun that is crappy cus it introduces shake and you have a tendency to "pull" the point of aim anyway and more trigger pull weight just makes it worse. Enter the set trigger
You pul the rear trigger and this "sets" the forward triggger which now requires a few ounces of pull. What you want on a target weapon. Some hunting rifles had the same thing. For completeness let me also mention the "release trigger". A massively dangerous concoction. The bloody gun goes off when you let the trigger go after pulling it. I leave it to the interested student to conjure up the possible accidents.
Beautifully made thing. Works perfectly after 100 years. Guns, like armor, called out for the hand of the artist. You can see it with the engraving here as well as with the woodworking.
I need to talk about how steel plate engraving descended from the blackening of engraved designs on armor in the 16th c. in Germany (
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