doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Has the 16 ga become obsolete?

Hey Stan,

You have a good eye! It's just as Ted and Miller said. When you cock this gun the rear trigger moves backwards till it almost touches the trigger guard. Then when you close the breech the rear trigger advances. I can personally confirm that the rear trigger works!
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As for the other gun, the quick answer is that it's a V model Darne and a fundamentally different design in practically everthing except they both have sliding breech block activated by a top lever. I just checked my 1970-vintage R-15 and found no movement at all when moving the breech block forward or back.

Cheers,

Bill

Ted,
The V21 is choked R .014", L .033". Quite a bit tighter than I like but no plans to allter them just yet.
BW

Dziadu, I still have some Pro-Shot Pro-Gold grease. Real good stuff that does not have expiration date.

The premium shell maker Kent just introduced Bismuth Wildfowl 16ga loads 1&1/4oz shot #4 at avg. "Vo" 1350fps. It comes in 25 cartridge boxes just like most lead or steel loads. The 16ga isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

I'm beginning to warm up to those French "pull apart guns". Does anyone know if 16ga sample can be found with super smokeless proof ie. 15,500 psi for 65mm chambers or 17,000 psi for 70mm chambers?

Somehow "Cheers" doesn't fit how do French say it "a votre sante"?

Post 1964, every Darne was proofed to 18,000. That had actually been going on at the factory for some time before that, 1964 was the year the scribes caught up with the builders and formalized what proof was going to mean going forward. It was considered adequate for guns with 75cm chambers as well.
I'm not sure why anyone would be concerned with proof level on the Darne guns. By law, the proof house in St. Etienne had the highest level for proof in Europe. 15,000 psi was a common pressure for single proof before the year 1900, with powders PJ PM, and especially, PS.

Most of what goes wrong on a Darne was done to it by someone who should have known better.

"Au revoir" works, but the term "Chao" will get you by in France, Spain, and Italy.


Best,
Ted

Ted: can you give me an idea of to when a Halifax No.3 in the 58,000 serial number. Range might date? Local gun shop has one, in near mint condition. Looks almost new, but has 65 mm chambers and a straight grip. Two piece stock. Couldn�t find the answer on line.

Thanks.

Buy it!

I bought a Parker VH 16 today cause if they're obsolete there aren't going to be any more. Hope to have it here soon so I can initiate it into Texas quail hunting this year. 26" barrels and all original. Shows decades of scars from Virginia and Low Country association with Gentleman Bob.

I had a V20 Darne in the low 50,000 serial number range that was built in 1910.
Having said that, over the years I've become suspicious that the Halifax guns were not built in sequence, and that the numbers applied to them may have been separate from regular Darne production.
I'd need more information, and a good, clear picture of the flats and barrel markings to hazard a guess. It would be good to know the treatment of the butt, also, if it is original to the gun. It would be an educated guess, but, no more than that.
As Bill said, if the gun is that nice, and it fits you well, there isn't too much difference between the first one ever built and the last one ever built, save about 100 years time, and either example would be a great hunting/shooting implement.
I mean that in a good way.


Best,
Ted

Check the chamber markings. If it's in cm...it's 1912 or earlier.