Mr. Kotchek,
The button safety isn't very common on Darne R models. The best place to look is on James Wayne imports from the 1970s. My very first Darne was a 29" barreled 20 gauge that featured that safety, which, as a lefty, I grew to not like very much.
I regret selling that gun inspite of that little righthanded button.
I got around to measuring the wall thickness on this old Halifax, and was not surprised. At the same point the Proofhouse measured 18.2mm, the wall thickness on this gun is .115 and .118, respectively. I quit right there. No point in going further, or worrying about it. I won't hesitate to use the old Winchester low noise, low recoil loads even if they are 2 3/4" length, until I lay in some RSTs in the correct length. Most of the Darne guns I own have similar wall thickness dimensions. Something I truly love about a Darne is the typical way the barrels are overbuilt for the task at hand, while still having a lightweight (most of the time) and well balanced gun. I think this gun avoided European pitted bore syndrome through lack of use. Many, haven't. For a 100+ year old French gun (my best guess is construction between 1910 and 1915, or so) that came back as a war trophy, the condition is better than good, I guess.
I will drag it along for the Ruffed Grouse fun shoot tomorrow, and run another round through it, if I have time. As of now, I am going to call it ready for service.
Best,
Ted
