doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Dating early 20th Century French Shotguns

Here are three more Didier Brevet dated barrels and with these, there are definitely date markers.

1). 1903 - ????? 18.4; chamber? (ad says 65mm but no pic - assume it is 6.5cm); Buffard Armurier SN 5397. (no pics of the action or barrel flats - only the description)
http://www.naturabuy.fr/Juxtapose-Buffard-item-4014832.html



2). 1912 13689? 18.4; 65 chambered in mm; Note the 1912 shift to mm.
http://www.naturabuy.fr/Fusil-Juxtapose-St-Etienne-cal-12-70-Didier-DREVET-item-3577295.html


3): no date - 15035; 18.4; 65? Chambered in mm; note the lack of a date;
http://www.naturabuy.fr/Magnifique-rare-Didier-fusil-grand-prix-1900-canon-plume-item-3949391.html





With this we're pretty close to nailing down
-- the date of the change-over in Saint-Etienne from cm to mm,
-- the date of the first barrels made by DD following WWI, and
-- the end of DD punching dates on their barrels.
I'll post a proto-graph separately which will be based on these datapoints compiled on page 1 - repeated here.

1852 - DD begins to serial number and date his barrels
1855 - Gold Medal for Barrels - Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855
1878 - ...????; 65mm chambered in mm; 18.6; Gun Maker: Didier Fusil; Sn: ?? (damas underlever hammergun)
1885 - ..4922; ??? chambered in mm; 17.0. Gun Maker: ??; gun sn: ?? (from page 3)
1900 - ..8975; 6.5 chambered in cm; 18.4; Gun maker: Darne; gun sn??
1903 - ,,?????; chamber 6.5??; 18.4; Buford Armurier SN 5397
1904 - 11046; 6.5 chambered in cm; 18.4; Gun maker: ?? gun sn:
1905 - 11604; ??? chamber?; 18.4; (unclear); Gun maker: ?? gun sn: ??
1906 - 11985; 7 chambered in cm; 17.0; Gun maker: Gerest Berthon; gun sn
1906 - 12075; 7 chambered in cm; 18.4; Gun maker: ??; gun sn: ??
1907?- 12537: 7 chambered in cm; 18.4; Gun maker: ??; gun sn: ?? (from next page)
1907 - 12613? 7 chambered in cm; 18.4; Gun Maker: Geneaux; gun sn: ; (from 4th page)
1908 - 12740; 6.5 chambered in cm; 17.0; Gun Maker: ??; gun sn: ??
1910 - 13184; 6.5 chambered in cm; 18.4: Gun Maker: ??; gun sn: ??
1912 - 13689? 65 chambered in mm; 18.4; Note the 1912 shift to mm. (page 4)
1918 - 14204; 65 chambered in mm; 18.4: Gun maker: ?? gun sn: 19488; (Skeetz's gun)
..................(possibly one of the very first commercial barrel sets made by DD after Nov 11, 1918).
1921?- 15034; (no date) 65? Chambered in mm; 18.4; note the lack of a date but if you calculate 300 barrels/year after 14204 from 1918, the pre WWI rate this will = circa 1921?); (I'm wrong - photo cut off the date - see below)
1924 - 2?871; 75mm (chambered in mm); 19.2 (10 gauge); gun number 1080 for Didier Brevet (SIFARM) gun labeled "Excelsior."

DD looks to have been making about
-- 1852-1885: serial numbers 0 - c5000; i.e. 200 or so a year? (actually probably the normal 250 once he got his reputation going with that 1855 gold medal).
-- 1885?-1914: Serial numbers c5000 - c14,000: 250-300 barrels a year from 1885 - 1914? (and given the history - possibly his maximum capacity for manufacture - Darne may have gone on their own barrel manufacture about 1900 because of this)(and was DD totally anal about his quality at this time? - the demand was there - looks like he refused to accelerate his barrel production)..
-- 1914-1918: Sn 14xxx-14204? Sports barrel production was probably zero from 14 Aug 1914- 11 Nov 1918 for obvious reasons.

Suffice to say for now, if your French Saint-Etienne barrels are chambered in cm...they are 1912 or earlier.

And by the way, it looks like there are a lot more pre WWI French shotguns chambered for 7cm/70mm (2 3/4) out there than previously understood.
.