Originally Posted By: Argo44
Larry, there are brother Mondiales out there (Freres) (at least three - no photos):
https://www.chassepassion.net/forums-chasse/topic/marque-de-fusil/

and another (photos seem to have vanished)
http://www.passionlachasse.com/t16943-fusil-mondiale

And I believe another:
http://www.passionlachasse.com/t15983-avis-fusils

MessageSujet: Re: Avis fusils Dim 2 Déc 2012 - 22:01 Mentionner
Je peux juste te dire par exemple ce soir ,que ton fusil de marque Mondiale est un fusil issu de la Manufacture "MONDIALE" de St Etienne , qui était au n° 2 du cours Fauriel et qui fabriquait des armes de chasse selon désir des clients jusqu'en 1950 environ , Ces armes étaient assez variées et chaque fusils était gravé selon demande . Il y a eut des calibres 12 , des 16 et des 20 en très petites quantité .C'était du fusil entierrement artisanal de bonne qualité et qui ne prend pas de jeu . On en trouve encore d'occasion dans les 500 euros , ce qui est donné pour les connaisseurs bien sûr , mais le chambrage et la méconnaissance font qu'il y a peu d' acheteurs hélas .

Rough translation (2012) comment: I can just tell you a little bit this evening, that your gun marked "Mondiale" is a gun made by a manufacturer "Mondiale" in Saint Etienne, which was locate at 2, du cours Fauriel, which made hunting guns according to the desires of its clients (bespoke guns) up to about 1950. These guns were quite varied and each gun was engraved according to the wishes of the client. They were made in 12, 16 and 20 gauges in very small quantities. It was a gun which was entirely artisanal of good quality with never play in the action. You can still find some used for about 500 Euroes, which are a great bargain for the connaisseurs. Alas, the chambering and the lack of knowledge of the name means few buyers.

Just a further thought, there is no "system Helice," no patent for "Helice," no regulated meaning of the term. The term simply means "heilcal" and has no specific meaning other than as an advertisement which has come to sort of stand for something vaguely "solid" that no one is quite sure about...sort of like "choke rectifie." Even the French get mixed up on this.


Thanks, Argo. We've discussed this in the past, but there was indeed a "Helice system". Letter I received from M. Claude Verney-Carron, July 2002:

"Helice was the name of the locking system patented by my great grandfather Jean Verney-Carron at the beginning of the 20th century. When the patent expired and fell in the public field, a lot of gun makers from St. Etienne adopted the system for their own use." However, V-C did not use the name "Helice" on their guns. But "Helice Grip" and "HelicoBloc" were two names they did use. In the case of this gun, it's the top lever with the stop on the left hand side and the 3rd fastener which leads me to believe that it is yet another gun that uses the Helice locking mechanism--which is described and shown very clearly in my 1922 V-C catalog.