Blake?

[waterman]

I suppose I should do something on topic.

I have a fondness for rotary magazine rifles. Once upon a time I starting looking for a Blake. Mentioned them to the wife yesterday. "Don't you have a Blake?" She remembered me looking obviously. I don't remember finding one. I don't remember taking one apart. Ergo I do not. I did dig into it.

I'll just add the ending. In 1914 people came looking for guns. Blake was interested in selling what tooling he had and the patents. A Canadian was interested. There was a go between. A bill was working its way through Congress. No munitions sales to countries at war. Amusing given what happened later. The deal was kaboshed. The go between filed suit against Blake for a commission on the sale. He won. Appealed to a higher court, the judgement was reversed - no commission was due. Blake was dead by the time the appeal was reversed, 1917, with his wife being on the hook.

In that legal mess a hint was found. The Blake rifles were likely made by the Baker shotgun company.

The Navy and New York tested the Blake.

Where was the Baker shotgun company located?

[5madfarmers]

Where was the Baker shotgun company located?

baker.jpg (51.24 KiB) Viewed 5733 times

Batavia. Head down to Sears - they have them. That or order out of the catalog I guess.

[butlersrangers]

Bump - some Blake discussion from 2025