Verney-Carron has added some historical information to their website since I last checked it out, which does seem to suggest their expertise in barrel-making was a later development:

Quote:
At the end of the First World War, the decision was taken to set up a proper factory. This new operation, undertaken in 1926, allowed the employees and equipment of another manufacturer, Auguste MARZE, to be assimilated into Verney-Carron. Owing to the large investment required to finance the new factory, the financial resources of the family and the friends of the two businesses, were invested in the new Verney-Carron S.A.

The great crash of 1929 and the depression that followed prevented this new company from reaching its full potential. As a result, it was decided to gradually changeover from a direct sales operation into a manufacturing company selling through a network of firearms retailers. It was during this period that the publication of a yearly company catalogue enabled it to add the production and sale of firearm accessories and hunting equipment to its firearm manufacturing sales. Starting in 1936, Verney-Carron added fishing and tennis equipment distribution, and bicycle manufacturing to its business portfolio. This diversification helped the company to survive the difficult years of World War II.

Claude Verney-Carron died in 1941. At the end of World War II, his son Jean, with the support of Auguste Marze, undertook the task of rebuilding a company with a depleted work force and obsolescent equipment. He succeeded in assembling, under the name "Groupement d'Exploitation des Fabricants d'Armes Réunis (GEFAR), six manufacturers, all of whom all contributed their own resources. Over 150,000 firearms were manufactured, despite competition from the national arsenals, most of them under the brand name "Pionnier [Pioneer]" adopted by Verney-Carron.

Claude Verney-Carron, the son of Jean, joined the business in 1948. He encountered the representative of a little known Italian manufacturer, which had just completed the development of a very light semi-automatic hunting shotgun. A license for the manufacture of this product was signed in 1954, marking a new turning point in the history of the firm. In effect, Verney-Carron entered into the era of modern industrial production.

Jean Verney-Carron died is 1961. Albert de Veron de La Combe, nephew of Auguste Marze, assumed control along with Claude and Henri, Jean's sons. SIFARM (a combination of the venerable manufacturers Berthon Frères, Francisque Darne, Didier-Drevet, Gerest and Ronchard-Cizeron) was absorbed in 1963, along with the famous Canonnerie (Barrel makers) Jean Breuil. Verney-Carron now effectively controlled all its manufacturing, and Henri Verney-Carron, Technical Director, fully mastered the secrets of barrel-making. He decided to abandon earlier techniques, putting in place modern processes and installing efficient new equipment, thus producing barrels ranking among the best in the world.

V-C History

Such a long, long time to be gone, and a short time to be there.