1943 enclosed track metal body band gun!

[popgun pete]

Some years ago I came across this French patent (see attached) for a band gun based on a rectangular metal tube body. It was an addition to the original speargun patent which showed a rather bulky looking timber gun. That first gun was not a particularly interesting design, so the two inventors apparently decided to return to the drawing board and came up with this new version which owes very little to their first effort. The gun may actually have been manufactured, it looks sufficiently detailed in its drawings, but I have never seen anything that looks like it. The most interesting aspect is that this is an enclosed track, mid-handle band gun; the body tube is rather like a Riffe "Metaltech" stock in shape, only the cross-sectional area of the tube appears to be somewhat smaller and it is intended to be a metal sheet fabricated item, not an alloy extrusion. Check out the sliding and rocking internal connecting arm that links the sear lever, trigger and automatic line release lever, bearing in mind that this gun is being proposed in 1943! Band attachments were then of the tied together rubber strand variety mounting over vertical curved posts on either side of the muzzle (the now familiar band ferrule system was only being invented by Rene Cavalero that same year, so these guys did not know about that development). Inventors Albert Dedieu and Charles Foglia lodged their patent application for this gun on 5th February 1943, but the French patent was only granted in December 1944 and published in October 1945. World War II had been in progress, so there was not much opportunity to make spearguns until the economic situation in France had returned to normal.

The spear shaft has a square tail end section which slides inside the square cross-section enclosed track, the twin tooth sear lever engaging notches on either side of this tail end section (reminiscent of the much later twin tooth used on the "In Depth Inc." sear lever). The rubber propulsion bands are trussed together sets on either side (see fig. 6) connecting to a right-angled rounded bolt head tail driving unit that drops in behind the spear tail after the spear is latched in place in the gun. Latching is achieved by first inserting the spear fully into the gun with the barrel inclined slightly upwards, then pulling the line release lever back which simultaneously resets the trigger mechanism and traps the spear tail in the sear box. I have drawn another diagram showing how this works and the linked movement of the various levers. A narrow longitudinal slot or window and a notch just behind it on the upper edge of the long rocking arm engage respectively the trigger pivot pin and a second pin (serving as the catch) inside the folded metal trigger body. The forward curving line wrap post is to prevent the shooting line catching on the rear of the post from behind as the line loops pull free of the line release lever when it is in its forward release position. So operating this gun is somewhat like using a lever cocked rifle, the pointy lug on the front of the trigger finger guard facilitates holding the handle with a reverse grip in one hand as you crank the lever back with the other hand to cock the gun's trigger mechanism.

The gun appears to be not very powerful by today's standards, but it would be an interesting exercise to fabricate something like this as it represents a design which was headed in a different direction to the usual post-war spearguns. The angled bolt head drive unit looks like it could bind on the track of the barrel slot if it tipped over during its sliding movement, but all the gun really needs is wishbone tabs or pins on the shaft to make it a more realistic proposition. I doubt that the gun was intended to be a floater as it would have been contemporary with the then established spring guns, all sinkers, which first appeared with Kramarenko's gun in 1937.

[popgun pete]

One reason why I put this post up is that it shows the large angle that the sear lever has to rotate through to clear the spear tail notches if they are incorporated on either side of the shaft. Basically the twin sear teeth, there are two of them sitting side by side, have to drop the full depth of the shaft tail to release the shaft when the gun is fired. On a standard speargun the sear tooth drops half the shaft depth as the spear tail notch is only cut half-way through the shaft, particularly on the ninety degree spear tail notches. That is why on the "In Depth Incorporated" spearguns the spear tail is reduced in height by machining out virtually the bottom section of the shaft tail, it reduces the angle that the gun's sear lever has to rotate through for the twin sear teeth on those guns to release the shaft. Refer to http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=6866 for photos of the cut away spear tail.

[gettin'wet]

Wow, very interesting and amusing read. Your explanations are awesome. Thanks for posting.

Those designers and fabricators were very capable in those days. My father has woodworking tools he purchased 2nd and 3rd hand from that era that are still running strong today.

[popgun pete]

This gun has at last been found in France. Photos to follow!

[popgun pete]

These photos are supplied by the collector in France. This is a very important find. The bands are a later addition and the shaft tail has been equipped with a drive tab. The front sights are not fitted and the angled bolt spear tail driving unit is not used, but otherwise the gun is little changed.

[popgun pete]

Here is the earlier version with the schematic superimposed on top. Images are scaled to the height of the stock in both cases. The actual grip is slightly smaller, the patent image was probably stretched for clarity of the parts details. The gun was for use around rocks, hence its short length. L'Espadon is a Swordfish.