Heuse-Lemoine

Belgian patent for a new damascus pattern by Heuse-Lemoine http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20h/a%20heuse%20gb.htm Claude Gaier's "Four Centuries of Liege Gunmaking" sheds some light on the connection between US and Belgian firms. Ernest Heuse-Lemoine (1834-1926) from Nessonvaux was a major force in the Vesdre Valley for barrel making. He maintained agents in London, Birmingham, and New York and his firm supplied the Belgian royal court. Every 3 years he would travel abroad and upon his return, would be met by a band in celebration because he always came back with more work orders than his own firm could handle. He would then distribute some of the work to smaller barrel makers in the Vesdre. Gaier states that Heuse-Lemoine supplied damascus barrels for at least 50 years to US makers, and that he invented the names of "Boston" and "Washington" damascus especially for the American market. The firm's mark was a Crowned HL. In late 1899, the U.S. firms of Hartley & Graham and Simmons Hardware bought 90,000 guns from Liege gunmakers in a single order. Other Belgian maker's marks found on damascus barrels used by American gun makers include: Colt Firearms: Heuse-Riga Fils. & Plunger-Riga. L.C. Smith: Bauduin Doyen & Jean-Baptiste Delcour-Dupont. Baker: Charles Spirlet & Arthur-Delvaux-Heuse. Lefever: Arthur-Delvaux-Heuse & George Laloux. Fox: Jean-Baptiste Delcour-Dupont. Ithaca (Flues): Heuse-Riga Fils.