doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Darne V19

Yes that would work. I am going to live with the cast on for the time being. If I make a new stock I will make it heaver with the right amount of drop and a parallel comb. I have completed the glass bedding of the stock and which repaired the crack and now is good and tight. Does anybody know what headspaces the action? It is some what like a Luger which for the most part because of the precision machine is not a problem. Does the key going down into the lower receiver determine the headspace or does the tail on the key determine it. Or are the barrels adjusted? Or maybe Darne did not care becaue on a shotgun it "generally" not a problem.

I'm a bit confused when you say "head space". Shotgun shells head space on the rim. The Darne breech block locks hard up against the barrels using a knuckle. Same principal as a Luger or injection mold presses or a zillion other mechanisms. In the Darne the rear end of the key pivots on to a replaceable shim or wedge or I don't know what you call it. In the event of wear, after about a million years, not a big deal to fit a new one.
nial

George,
I've been looking at the pictures of your gun, and I can't really determine how it was headspaced. It is different enough from what I have seen over the years, that I would have a tough time without having it in my hands.
Up on the face of the breech are raised areas that project on to the base of the loaded cartridge. These are much more pronounced on a typical sliding breech gun that is equipped with them. These "obturator discs" do not seem to be a different part that is bolted in to the breech face on your gun, from what I can see, and they are, on a more conventional Darne gun.
The key sould go into final battery pretty firmly on a loaded gun. The adjustment is not on the barrels, they are an interference fit to the base that the breech slides on. If the key is sloppy at all in final battery with loaded cartridges in the gun, you might have an issue.

Nial, I once priced a V grade gun for a customer with R13 level engraving and wood.
It was never ordered or sold, but, it was possible to spec a gun for yourself through most of the Darne companies history.
It helped to be right there, with cash in hand, I imagine.

Best,
Ted

Assembled my gun and made up a few blanks to shoot in the shop. Using federal primers left barrel would not fire. Using winchester primers both barrel fired but left strike was weaker. Firing pin protrusion same for both pins. Rim cut out left barrel .0068 right Barrel .0060. The head space is set by a locator pin located in the top of breech block going into a pin on top of barrels.

George,
You might want to get into the breech mechanism a bit, to see if either crud is keeping the left firing pin from moving freely, or if the spring that drives it (a pretty stout coil spring) is broken badly enough to reduce the force it is generating.
Just soaking the entire breech can work wonders. I have hosed everything down on a dismounted sliding breech with Break Free (or, automatic transmission fluid) and allowed it to sit, upside down on a rag for a week or so, and then soaked it in mineral spirits or diesel fuel, blowing it off and lightly re-lubricating, on guns that weren't too gummed up. 9 out of 10 times, it is all they need.
The firing pin spring is contained around the firing pin, and the guns usually continue to work, even if they are broken in one or two spots. But, there is going to be a limit on how many breaks in the spring the gun will tolerate before it no longer works reliably.

Best,
Ted