I have a wish to buy a darne at some stage, but know little about them. There were two for sale near me, i didn't see them in person, merely photographs. They seemed to me to be farmers grade, beech stocks, pressed on chequering, no engraving, very plain.
Do they shoot loose after many rounds like normal opening shotguns do ? If so,is it a difficult job to tighten them ?
Most of what goes wrong on a Darne involves unqualified gunsmithing. They don't shoot loose, like a gun with a hinge pin, and I liked what Michael McIntosh said in his appraisal of the design, noting that the wear tends to get spread over a far larger area on a sliding breech gun, as opposed to a conventional gun, which, I happen to agree with. There are fewer parts in a Darne than there are in a boxlock or a sidelock, and less to go wrong.
Watch for broken stocks, broken main springs, and lower grades that have seen severe use in areas like French colonies from the 1920s-1950s, that have somehow ended up back in civilization. A friend owns a Halifax, in perfect operating condition, with an Asian Colonels name carved into the stock. Unbeautiful history, I guess. Wonder where it has been?
Plain wood was a hallmark of the lower grade guns, and copies, or clones, as we call them, guns like the OPs that don't have a name on them. Most of those are as well fitted, and finished, as well as an actual Darne gun from the Darne factory, guns always noted as being high quality.
Avoid Darne project guns like the plague. That might be OK if you lived across the street from the factory, but, none of us do.
There do exist high grade R model Darnes, but, the truly high grade guns are V and P models, which turn up much much less frequently, and are completely different from the R models, with no parts interchange.
A Darne simply isn't for everyone. Try to handle and shoot one before you buy one, if at all possible. The different grades handle a bit differently, and you may need to search a bit before you find out which grade you prefer.
I prefer regular, old, R10s. Perfect hunting implements, and none of the many examples that has passed through my hands has ever required any gunsmithing, although I have restocked one example, to fit me, and I am considering doing it again on a different gun, to hopefully get the same results.
Good luck in your quest. Let us know how it goes.
Best,
Ted
