{"id":9326,"date":"2020-03-22T22:26:22","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T03:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/?p=9326"},"modified":"2020-07-22T11:17:58","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T16:17:58","slug":"the-burgess-shotguns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/22\/the-burgess-shotguns\/","title":{"rendered":"The Burgess Shotguns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Andrew Burgess is, perhaps, one of the greatest “forgotten” American arms designers.\u00a0 Born in Dresden, New York in 1837, he and his family would later relocate to Owego. This is where he would establish his workshop and begin a long list of patents that eventually grow to nearly 600 in number.\u00a0 First, however, he had to take some pictures. Burgess was also a photographer and employed by the famous Mathew Brady. There is evidence to suggest Burgess may have actually taken the photograph of Abraham and Tad Lincoln, and the profile featured on the five dollar bill.\u00a0 Burgess would eventually buy out Brady’s business, but later sold it back. From there he profited more from invention, having patented and successfully sold a fire alarm. In 1871 he would patent ideas for converting Peabody and Werndl rifles into repeating guns. Ultimately his successes allowed him to keep several men in his shop sharing in the effort to develop new designs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Whitney-Burgess-Morse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Burgess’ first well-known firearms would emerge from an 1872 patent, developed into several models that quickly caught the eye of Eli Whitney,\u00a0 Two of its three major variations would be made under his name, and then further modified under the name Kennedy. These lever action repeaters represent the large bulk of Burgess history being discussed in firearms literature.\u00a0 However, today we are discussing his LAST design: a repeating, slide action shotgun. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Burgess Gun<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>In 1893 Andrew Burgess would found his own company in order to produce a new firearm of his own design.\u00a0 The patent covered a unique repeating action that could be made into a rifle or shotgun; though the latter came first.\u00a0 Hitting the market in 1894, the state-of-the-art Burgess Gun received nothing but good press and high marks from early observers.\u00a0 Pricing was as low as $40 for a \u201cGrade D\u201d gun and up to $200 for a finely engraved, premiere firearm. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Mechanically it is a 12 gauge, slide action operated, locking breech shotgun.\u00a0 Nothing about that initial statement seems fantastic until you release the slide assembly carries the trigger and wrist, semi-pistol grip and all!\u00a0 Locking is achieved by a tipping block attached to the breech-block, which drops at the rear when the action is closed. The trigger may not engage the sear until lock is achieved, preventing out of battery fire.\u00a0 Initially the Burgess Gun shipped without an inertial safety, which made it vulnerable to hang-fires during rapid fire. These were more common in the early days of smokeless shotgun loads. Guns with the later inertial safety require the shooter to press forward on a button at the front of the trigger guard in order to open in action unless it has been shot.\u00a0 The action, when closed, is completely sealed by the breech-block and an underside action cover. Loading the gun requires opening the action, assuming the gun is assembled<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Taking down the Burgess Gun<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Take-down, as in easily disassembling the gun into roughly half for travel, is easily the simplest of any period shotgun.\u00a0 Since there is no action bar forward of the receiver, you only need to slightly withdraw the breech-block (clearing the extractor from the barrel) and depress one button to slide the barrel and magazine assembly out of the receiver\u2019s locking lugs.\u00a0 That\u2019s it, just one tiny button! It\u2019s worth noting that the magazine assembly-side of the gun carries the cartridge stop, so you can load the magazine disassembled and simply slide it back in place!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Period advertising sometimes referred to the Burgess Gun as \u201csemi-automatic.\u201d\u00a0 This is not under our current definition, as any autoloader would be called \u201cautomatic\u201d at the time.\u00a0 Instead the Burgess is manually operated but took unique advantage of shooting physics. Any rearward draw on the grip would immediately open the action.\u00a0 So at the very moment of a shot the first wave of recoil sends the gun rearward, as the shooter\u2019s hand remains still. This keeps the gun locked for just that first instant.\u00a0 Once the recoil is transferred to the shooter, their hand now travels rearward. If the shooter were to favor a rearward pull as they fired the gun, they would find the residual recoil momentum aiding their draw on the mechanism: snapping it open rapidly and sharply with almost no effort.\u00a0 Then simply drive the mechanism forward to fire again.\u00a0 Unfortunately this took some getting used to and we’ve found most modern shooters fight the mechanism at first.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 An interesting point further in favor of the Burgess Gun is that it is completely symmetrical in design, making it inherently ambidextrous.\u00a0 This was further evidenced by their hiring of professional exhibition shooter \u201cLeft Hand\u201d Charlie Damon, along with several right handed people as well, to market the gun at various public events.\u00a0 The fine handling and rapid shooting was put to work to prove their motto \u201cSix hits in less than three seconds.\u201d Given the unique recoil aid and the fact the gun is capable of \u201cslam fire\u201d and we find these numbers easily achievable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Folding Gun with holster<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Now most turn-of-the-century shotguns came in roughly three configurations: standard, field (or brush), and riot.\u00a0 While a myriad of minor changes abound, generally the difference was just a matter of barrel length. The Burgess gun did one better.\u00a0 Because of the unique slide action, set behind the receiver, the gun wasn\u2019t just easier to take down in halves; it could actually be hinged!\u00a0 With this in mind, Burgess took a patch from the Smith carbine and fixed an overhead spring. Now the gun could not only be folded, but snapped back into assembly with the flick of the wrist.\u00a0 This quick deployment meant the gun wasn\u2019t just stowable, but that it could be carried holstered on the hip and drawn as rapidly as a revolver.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
The take-down locking mechanism<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In order to enable folding, the gun features a massive hinge at the bottom front of the receiver.\u00a0 The interrupted lugs of the take down assembly are now only at the top of the receiver. A set of guide pins, really just projects from two new screws in the side of the action, ride in curved channels on either side of the barrel assembly.\u00a0 When shut, these pins settle into their own recesses and add rigidity and some additional lower locking strength to the action. When unfolded, the massive overhead spring is responsible for holding the barrel assembly upward, forcing the locking lugs to engage for firing.\u00a0 A T-shaped lever is set inside the spring and is flipped up 90 degrees in order to release for take down.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
The take-down release spring<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Burgess marketed the gun as a 6-shooter, but we found the magazine only held five rounds\u2026 until we cleared our misconceptions.\u00a0 The Burgess magazine will hold six rounds of 2\u00bd inch 12ga cartridges which were still commonly found at the time. So marketing assumed an empty chamber.\u00a0 However, we\u2019ve found that a bit of grease or wax will keep a pre-chambered cartridge in place long enough for demonstration shooting. Although I should warn that the firing pin does NOT rebound and if you were to try and flip-assemble a loaded chamber with the hammer down\u2026 well it has a high likelihood of discharging inopportunely.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Period advertising named Police, Express Messengers, Marshals, Prisons, Bank guards, and others to wear the Burgess on their hip.\u00a0 It even included a <\/span>triptych depicting concealment under a mid-length top coat, followed by the draw.\u00a0 A Burgess folding gun would cost you $30 in 1895, $10 more for a Damascus barrel. The holster was only $1.50 extra and well worth the price!\u00a0 We\u2019re having one reproduced from an original example and the thoughtfulness that went into the construction is the reason these have lasted over 100 years.\u00a0 Every stitch was considered carefully in design.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 A story has long been told of Theodore Roosevelt\u2019s first encounter with the Burgess folding gun.\u00a0 I\u2019ll repeat it here with the warning that I have not been able to track it back to its origin. In 1895, Roosevelt had taken, briefly, the position of President of the New York City Police Board.\u00a0 One day he was visited by \u201cLeft Hand Charlie\u201d on behalf of the Burgess Gun Company. Intending to sell the police department his gun, Charlie had taken the bold decision to load one full of blanks and hide it under his coat for the meeting.\u00a0 Entering Roosevelt\u2019s office he drew the shotgun and fired off six rounds skyward, or ceilingward in this case. I don\u2019t suppose a little more tinnitus was much of a concern for Roosevelt, as the New York Penal System would purchase 100 of the guns.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Burgess take-down and folding rifles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Burgess would begin marking a rifle using the same action as his long shotgun in 1896.\u00a0 Because of the unique take-down method, having spare barrels of different length was an easy luxury.\u00a0 The following year brought out folding models in .30-40 Burgess, .30-30, and .44-40. Unfortunately these are rare in the extreme today as the company did not last much longer.\u00a0 It struggled against Winchester\u2019s aggressive advertising and pricing strategies. Andrew Burgess was now a much older man and in 1899 would agree to sell out to Winchester, who happily folded another competitor company away.\u00a0 They did not opt to continue production of any of these shotguns or rifles, favoring their own models instead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 If you\u2019d like to see a Burgess in person and learn more about this period in firearms history, we would recommend visiting the Cody Firearms Museum<\/a> as they are the custodians of the Winchester records and much of their arms collection.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Andrew Burgess is, perhaps, one of the greatest “forgotten” American arms designers.\u00a0 Born in Dresden, New York in 1837, he and his family would later relocate to Owego. This is where he would establish his workshop and begin a long list of patents that eventually grow to nearly 600 in number.\u00a0 First, however, he had… Read More »The Burgess Shotguns<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,89,60,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-author","category-content","category-text","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9326"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9421,"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9326\/revisions\/9421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surplused.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}