A friend is interested in a BLNE 12 marked "Pidault Sucr. Paris" on the left barrel and "Houllier-Blanchard" on the right. It is a field grade gun with straight grip, splinter FE, and DT, and a case colored action with light border scrolls (well done). Has 27" metric length barrels and a swamped rib. He didn't give me all the markings but here's what he had:
Belgian crown over
E
LG
proofs on receiver water tables, a rhombus lozenge with 12 over C inside it , a crown over PV, a marking "d = m/m," another marking P1K416. One barrel flat marked 65/20.6, another 17.3 and 10.3. He says that the barrel flat markings are fainter than the water table markings making it appear that the barrels may have been re-finished long ago.
Any idea who actually made this gun (which I assume was a Belgian gun sold by a French armeury in Paris)? Does the 65/20.6 marking indicate 65mm chambers?
Houllier Blanchar was founded in 1816 in Paris. They held one patent in 1849 for a pinfire cartridge. They exhibited in Paris in 1839, 1844, 1849, 1855 they received a 1st place medal, 1867, 1878 & 1889. They also exhibited in London 1851 & 1853. New York in 1851.
The gun seems to imply some relationship between Houllier Blanchar and Pirault. Unfortunately, there were several Pirault's active in France. The largest, sometimes spelled as Piraut, was a huge military arms maker. They produced small arms, canons, etc. As such they had their own forge and mill.
This 12ga was black powder proofed between 1893-1924. It seems to have been resubmitted for nitro proof since 1959. The barrels weighed 1.416 Kg (3.21 lbs) at time of proof. The chambers were 65mm. The 20.6 is the diameter of the chamber. Please check the other numbers as they represent choke.
The gun was made in Belgium for Houllier Blanchar. The maker's mark may be on the guns some where, or not. Pictures would be easier than descriptions.
You can find the Belgian proof marks and maker's marks here:
http://damascus-barrels.com/bp.htmlPete
