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Just picked this little lovely up today. 16 ga. Bayard hammergun. Here's some pics of the watertable and barrel flats. The barrels in front of the flats have 166 choke & 167 choke stamped on them. What can you tell me about her??? Hope the pics are good enough to be of some help.





Ran two boxes of 2 1/2 inch low-pressure reloads through her this morning and dusted the clays that I hit so she'll be going to Mike O. for a forcing cone lengthening and choke opening.

Bayard was a brand name for Henri Pieper guns.




The Bayard name comes from the street in Liege on which Pieper had their original store. In fact, Bayard is a legend. The brand name was used when Nicolas took over his father's business. The Bayard trade name was used from about 1910 until Pieper closed their doors in 1957.

Your gun looks much like my Bayard 28ga from 1947:


A clearer picture of the flats and water table would help date it. You can find the proof marks and date codes here:
http://damascus-barrels.com/Belgian_All_Proofmarks.html

Pete

Thanks Pete. Looks like she was built in 1930. Will have to study the other markings when I have more time.

Nice hammergun, almost legendary for delivering outstanding patterns and strength at a very reasonable price. I think I see the 16-70 mark on the flats, so there's the additional bonus of being 2.3\4" shells ready, and maybe modern ammo too.

I'm pretty happy with mine. Full & fuller chokes, 70mm chambers and does good on the turkeys.

tunes

Since it is already a 70mm chamber I don't understand the need to lengthen the forcing cones. You have a reasonably high quality gun built by a good maker who knew what he was doing, why mess with his work. If the chokes don't suit you that is another thing. Pattern can be varied by how you load it so there are options there as well.

We could start a Bayard club! Here's my contribution; my 24 bore:

Dollysods, your 16 has proof marks indicating 2 3/4" Nitro Proof. Lagopus.....

Here's my 16, my fave.





sv

If you're thinking of lengthening forcing cones to reduce recoil, save your money. And as jerry said, you already have 2-3/4" chambers. If you want chokes opened, that's another story. BUT find out what you have before you jump into changing anything. Looks like a very nice gun. Congratulations. Enjoy it.

Thanks for all the replys and pics. Just assumed that it was a short chambered gun. Will take her to the pattern board and see what she throws before I send her off for any barrel work. This is the 3rd hammergun I've bought in the last two months . Gotta get control of myself .