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Moermans satisfied with her deep knowledge of the gun trade and in the following years she pushed up the marketing. A woman on top of a gunmaking firm was in those times even more unusual than today. ©Hunting-Heritage/BrauchitschĪfter the death of Joseph Verrees in 1982, his niece Anne-Marie Moermans took over the company. ©Hunting-Heritage/Brauchitsch Sign at the entrance of the Lebeau-Courally premises in Liège today. Label of Lebeau-Courally with Liège address. moved into new premises at Rue Saint-Gilles 386, which is headquarters of Lebeau-Courally to this day.
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After 15 years in the financial business, he had found his own gunshop in 1945 without any apprenticeship in gunmaking ever. It was a former banker who saved the company in this situation: Joseph Veerres.
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Under his leadership, Lebeau-Courally is booming again, before gunmaking came to a final end with the beginning of World War II.Īfter the war, the difficult situation got worse with the death of Philippe Reeve in 1957. His shoes filled the british business man Philippe Reeve, who hold the position until his death. In 1919, Ferdinand Courally resigned and went back to France. Belgium was occupied and has to produce weapons of war only. With World War I, the Golden Age came to a sudden end. Lebeau-Courally 12G Sidelock, round action, detachable locks.©Hunting-Heritage/Brauchitsch As one of the first, he offered real bespoken guns to his clients, who can choose nearly all features of their gun after their own taste. And it lived up to expectations. Using the skills of the craftsmen in Liège, who built excellent guns. Soon Lebeau-Courally became Royal Warrant Holder of the courts of Russia, Italy and Spain.
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No catalogue, no publication comes without them. Courally build all the advertising on this illustre clientel. ©Hunting-Heritage/BrauchitschĬourally recognized the usefulness of the Royals, who were the “Celebrities” of their time and in great demand for promoting purposes, comparable with the celebs of today,mostly athletes, actors and singers. Lebeau-Courally character engraved on a sidelock gun. Most prominent of them was Tsar Nicolaus II, who owned a pair of 20 Gauge Anson guns with the numbers 3182, probably built in 1890, which would mean in the August Lebeau era. There were some members of the european nobility, who already shoot with Lebeau guns. It’s the publicity, that makes the difference. There were a lot of great names in the gun business in those days with Francotte, Bury, Defourny or Dumoulin, to name only a few, not to forget the famous London gunmakers. Ferdinand Courally realised, that it was not enough, to build excellent guns. Important, not only with firearms, is the marketing. Lebeau-Courally 12G O/U, round action, detachable locks.©Hunting-Heritage/Brauchitsch But what became evident in the following years was his excellence as a business man. It’s not clear, if he himself was a gunmaker. Etienne, France, took over the firm: Ferdinand Courally. August LebeauĪfter August Lebeau’s death in 1896, a man from St. One of the smaller manufacturers was August Lebeau, who established his workshop in 1865, offering Revolvers and hunting arms. Source: L’ARMURERIE LIEGOISE, IINSTITUT D’ETUDES ECONOMIQUE ET SOCIALE DES CLASSES MOYENNES, 1949. Statistic of proofed arms in Liège from 1930 to 1948. Some times later, this association changed to „Société anonyme Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre“ in brief FN, existing as a big player until today. Later, in the second half of the century, industrialization grew up, and in 1889 several manufacturers linked up to “Les Fabricants d’Armes de Guerre Réunis“ in order to continue to exist in the international competition. It was the so called “Golden Age” for the town at the banks of the Meuse river. In 1900 Liège produced more firearms than St. Between 18 nearly 12000 people worked in the firearms industrie, building 30 Million firearms in total, mainly for export. The development reached it’s peak in 1909 with 195 factories. From 36 in 1816 they grew to 97 in 1856 and even doubled to 177 in 1884. A canon made in 1811 in beginning of the 19th century, the amount of manufacturers in Liège increased steadily. It was the cradle of the continental coal- and steel industry and became a center of the heavy industry.įirearms were produced in Liège since the 16th century, supplying nearly every country in the world. Once upon a time, there was a town in Belgium, called Liège, Luik or Lüttich, depending on the three official languages of Belgium. The office at the Lebeau-Courally plant in Liège ©Hunting-Heritage/Brauchitsch