Hi Rockdoc,
This mistake is so common that I kind of gave up.
"Brevete" means patented, and it actually says "Brevete dans tous les pays" e.g. "Patented in all countries", which was likely to be a lie.
Manufrance is actually a newer trade name (1911) for the company f.k.a. "Manufacture francaise d'armes et cycles de St Etienne". The "et cycles" (and bicycles) was itself added in 1901 after the success of the "Hirondelle" ("swallow") bicycle.
So unlike the "Ideal" which could have been sold under the old name, the Robust which was introduced in 1913, as always been a "Manufrance" product.
The exception would be for its alter ego, the "Costo" which was marketed in the 30's under a different operation, but which was basically identical to the "Robust". (Costaud is a different word for Robuste).
The Robust was the workhorse of the French farmer, was incredibly strong and handled well. The later guns have chrome plated bores, which was not such a great idea, making the barrel rework quasi impossible.
Ejectors are quite rare.
Most of them were actually built in 16 Ga, especially pre war.
I have never heard of a 20Ga one.
Best regards,
WC-
