The early Baker hammerless guns made while Baker was still alive are of great quality and the fit and finish was comparable to any of the other makers of the time. And their high grade guns were exquisite.
Their mechanism was a very simple one and is very serviceable. As far as the few American Sidelock that were made, I would say that the early baker guns were a superior gun to LC Smiths by way of overall design.
Of course quality in fit and finish really took a nosedive when Folsom took ownership of the company. The basic design of the gun remained the same. This is in the era that most people think of when the Batavia Leaders and Black Beauties were their main offering as field grade guns.
I am not up to speed enough on their product line offerings to know if they did offer any higher grade guns in the Folsom era or not.
I would summarize that the company and the design of the gun surely had the potential to be more than it was in the overall market and could have certainly had a greater effect on their following today.
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B. Dudley
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