Congratulations - it appears your gun has escaped the all too common damage to the top strap inletting through improper disassembly (this is seen as gaps in the wood to metal fit just before the screws/pins, where the strap starts to swell to its bulb shape. The screws look in decent shape, as does the wood to metal fit.

Did you find the bore diameter stamps? Do you have a bore gauge to check current diameter? With all the usual caveats of being unaltered, they are very stout guns.

Don't be put off by an initial refusal of a Frenchman to sell to you. Offering to pay a little extra for shipping has in the past changed the mind of a seller for me.

One other insight into these guns: there is a rising bite that engages the doll's head. If this rising bite is not perfectly flush with the doll's head, it will not be in battery and usually results in light primer strikes and a failure to fire. They are machined with very tight tolerances, and I have had a single flake/disc of unburnt powder on the action flats keep it from going into battery.

Good shooting,


Mike


Tolerance: the abolition of absolutes

Consistency is the currency of credibility