Miller,
See, here is the deal. A Darne doesn't really have an intrupter built into the opening lever, like a Charlin. IF a guy gets the lever up into the area where he doesn't feel spring tension against his thumb (I don't know how one would perform this with a finger, but, run with me on it) it is possible for the Darne to fire, with the lever closing under recoil. There was a time, when product liability lawsuits were in their infancy, that the Darne company advised you that you could actuate the extractor hooks on live rounds, by opening the lever slightly and pulling the trigger. Needless to say, this is a hairy maneuver, and I DON'T, WON'T and CAN'T recommend it.
When I was in the position of importing, I saw to it the this was deleted from instructions for the guns. Do you see where I'm going with this? You have to have a good feel for the individual gun at hand for it to work correctly. If you have a Darne and want to try it, I suggest you do that outside, with the muzzles pointed in a very safe direction.
I would then further suggest that you never try it again.
However, if you need to carry the gun, in a safe manor, having the opening lever up, about matching the angle of your up raised thumb when grasping the wrist in a normal carry position, will quite safely do.The lever will just have a bit of spring tension on it, and can be snapped shut, with your thumb, at the flush, very comfortably. This will work for the majority of upright hominids, at any rate. There will be an exception, or two, I suppose.
Back to a Charlin. Once the lever is out of battery, even by a fraction of an inch, it won't fire. Period. End of story.
That said, it probably doesn't work for everybody. A Darne isn't the only light and nice handling gun on the face of the planet, either, and if it doesn't work for you, move on.
Or, not.
Best,
Ted
