doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com BELGIUM 12 GAUGE HAMMER GUN

I HAVE A BELGIUM SIDE BY SIDE HAMMER GUN. THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RECEIVER IS MARKED IN GOLD "THE INVINCIBLE" THE RIGTH SIDE OF THE RECEIVER IS MARKED "MACHINE MADE".THE RIB IS MARKED "THE INVINCIBLE FINE DAMASCUS" WITH GOLD INLAY AROUND CHAMBERS. THE RECEIVER IS COVERED IN SCROLL ENGRAVING. IF ANONE CAN E-MAIL OR CALL ME WITH INFORMATION ON THIS GUN OR WOULD LIKE PHOTO'S TO HELP IN THE HISTORY OF THIS GUN.

THANKS,
FRED WOLF
941-626-5281

Post the photos here.

And stop shouting.

Fred,

I wish to offer you a bit warmer WELCOME here!

If you need the CAPS to see, all is well, regardless.

As per your gun, it might be a fairly cheap grade import.....but, the gold inlays might be a good indication otherwise. Some fine guns came out of Belgium.

Pictures would be most helpful, otherwise a descriptiion of ALL the marks on the top and bottom of the barrels, and everything you can find on the frame would be required to get an accurate idea of what you have.

Sorry it's not so simple!

Best,
Mark

There is no need to use caps to see. Windows has various features to increase text size, or magnify it. I would be happy to tell you about them if you would like.

If you don't know how to post photos, email them to me and I will post them.

Welome Fred, Fred has done barrel smithing for a number of my friends and is more than a competent shooter. Fred if you make it to the shoot at E Tu Makee this coming Feb.I hope to see you there, maybe you will win it again.
Rudy

Hello Fred and welcome to the best board on the web. You will find the most knowledgeable people about most any gun here. Come back often and share your knowledge with us too.

Belgian guns are rather obscure on the whole. Your best bet is to take very good pics and email them to the guys at http://www.littlegun.be They will give you a good rundown on the maker, proof marks etc.

I have seen two gun like the one you describe. One was a hammer 12 and the second was a hammerless 16, both with damascus barrels. Both were mid quality guns, not a best quality gun, but much above the average JABC. But they were not hand made guns by any means. They were in fact well named. Not as machine made as the old Remington 1100, but much more than other doubles of the day. Like a gun I have that is the "Interchangable" meaning that parts from one should, could, or at least might fit another.

At one time claiming to be machine made meant the latest in modern manufacturing methods had been used and it was considered a step up from hand made. Machine made shirts were deemed to be a higher quality than home made or hand made shirts. Funny how things are now machine made and hand made have just the oposite meaning.

Often we see engraving and think about how much that would cost to do today. Back when that gun was made the engraving was a minor cost. I have read that a middle grade gun could be engraved for several dollars in those days. Gold band or wire would have been fairly cheap to have done. Maybe 50 cents worth of gold and another 50 labor to do the inlay.

Post pictures and please show the proof marks on the barrels and water table. Others here should be able to give you a ball bark figur when your gun was made. The two I mentioned were most likely made between 1900 and 1915 from a quick look at the proofs. BICBW-again.