doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com "abeille" slider DARNE?

Hello...I have a 16 gauge side by side double that was on my grandfather's mantle due to a cracked stock. When talking to an elderly uncle of mine recently, I was told that he had hunted with it back in the 40s and 50s with modern ammo for that time and that there was nothing wrong with it...only the stock crack, which has become worse since then due to being dropped.
Anyway, the gun does not break open...it slides open, exposing the chambers and extractors. The only writing on it is "abeille" directly on top of the breach and there is a serial number of sorts hidden under the key lever mechanism. The only similar guns, and by similar I mean almost identical, I can find are the ones made by Darne. They have pics on their site, darneusa.com. It has a great deal of fine scrolling and an old, silvery finish. Double triggers as well. The only defect other than the cracked stock is the trigger gaurd, which has a bronzed spot where it was repaired. Does ANYONE know of a manufacturer other than Darne / Debruchet who may have used this same action. I'd love to put a new stock on it and use it...otherwise I'd sell or trade it for something I could use. It's a waste to leave it on my mantle. Any help would be greatly appreciated...thanks.

BD, welcome to The Board.

Ted will surely come along and tell you more about your "Bee".

JC

I'm sorry...meant to say 12g, not 16.

BD, pictures always help. Include water table and barrel flats.

JC

P.S.: If unfamiliar with the terms go to:
http://www.hallowellco.com/abbrevia.htm#Back%20Action

Digital camera is out of commission at the moment. Not sure how to remove the stock from the steel, but I'm working on it. Trying to find some other numbers or marks for you.

The more I look at it, I'm pretty sure this stock isn't the original. Mating of steel to wood is really poor around trigger gaurd...worse than I could have done it, even. Once I get the stock(one piece, by the way)off, I'll let you know what I find under the barrels. Thanks again

We need Ted. He has posted in the past on seeing at least 2 of these Abeille Darne guns.

In the mean time, here is a bit about Darne:
http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20francaise/artisans%20c%20d/a%20darne%20gb.htm

Pete

BD, to remove the barrels you have either a button on the bottom of the forend
or you open/slide the breech and you press down on a tab like the one seen
here with some lines. Then holding the gun securely you tap the butt on the floor
and the barrels slide back and come off. Be sure to hold both stock and barrels
as they will separate, :-)


JC

L' Abielle seems to have been a dealer of firearms for special occaisons (fine sporting guns). They were located on Rue Turbigo in Paris. They sold guns under their name rather than make them themselves, but maybe they did manufacture guns at some point. I see them as a smaller version of Gastienne Renette.

As to who made Darne type sliding breech guns....well...Darne made the most...but you can't rule out Charlin, Alexandre Bayle, Meyer, Clair Freres, Soleihac, Verney Carron, Lebel (Chatterault), Chevalier, and quite a few others.

Charlins cost more to produce than Darnes...so my guess is a L' Abielle sliding breech shotgun is probably a Charlin.

With all due respect, your guess would be wrong, Robert. The Abiells I have seen are direct copies of good old Regis Darne R patent guns, and every one has appeared to be a better quality copy of same. Course, that may/may not be the case here. I seem to remember the name being spelled "A'Baille", but, I might be wrong there.

Charlins are indeed, good quality, but, completely different in design and function, lacking the breech to barrel extension lockup and toggle driven wedge lockup of a Darne, which, as I've posted 'bout a jillion times, makes an R Darne my favorite, but, who cares?

Beagledog, you don't know me from Adam, and if you choose to ignore this advice, I can't blame you, but, I'd advise you to stop attempting any at home gunsmithing on this wonderful old gun. The fact that you are here asking questions points out in no uncertain terms you are in over your head, and I have handled far, far too many sliding breech guns that have been f *&%$d up by amature gunsmithing-that is not an understatement. Further, you don't hire a Checker cab mechanic to work on a Testarossa, so, if you are interested further, I can name a few gunsmiths that are qualified to put the gun back in service. At the top of the list would be Kirk Merrington, English trained, expensive, and worth every single penny, and Keith Kearcher comes to mind as well-do a google search, and you will find them.

Proceed further if you wish, but, I am at a point in life where I don't even tell people how to work on a sliding breech gun anymore. Parts are handfitted, expensive, and mostly not available, so keep that in mind if and when you tackle that project.

Good Luck.
Best,
Ted