doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com mystery old high grade Darne

I have recently purchased an old Darne. I bought it because the price was right and the quality seemed high. But once the gun was in my hands, I couldn't figure out what I had. Her are the facts; It has a rocker safety, not the slide safety or the small 9:00 to 6:00 lever. This rocker swings from 10:00 to 2:00, and is built into the receiver, so it was original to the gun. It has F. Darne on the barrel flats, along with a lot of other information as well as a date of 1914. The receiver has well executed game scenes on both sides. The whole gun is engraved. The fences are not rounded at the corners, but rather squarish, and nicely carved. There are no stampings to indicate the grade and, the general style of the receiver is, in my opinion, old style.
Not unusual, but neat...it has a working retractable sling that fits into the stock. I sent a note with pictures to Geoffrey Gournet, and he sent me back a picture of a gun he had seen, and it appears to be the gun I now own. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? I could send pictures but I'm not sure how to do it.

Sounds like a Francisque Darne model T. There is a restocked model T on Gunsinternational.com, or, at least there was.
If you email the photos to me, I'll get them up on the board.

tedjs@usfamily.net


Best,
Ted

Thanks Ted, I sent you a gob of pictures. Thank you for volunteering to post them.
Best,
Carl

Actually, Carl, this is the gun that I was referring to on guns International:

http://images.gunsinternational.com/list...0E28BB29DF3.JPG

That gun is pretty clearly a model T. If I am not mistaken, this exact gun made an appearence in The Double Gun Journal a few years back, where it was noted the gun was restocked by Ted Neal, and it was his gun.

The barrel flats, of your own gun:



Your gun, appears to be what was cataloged as a model "Fixe" which came in 6 grades, from grade 3 to grade 8. My own Jallas and Cie catalog, from the 1930s, makes no mention of quality stamps on any of the grades, but, the two oval marks on the flats of your gun are indeed, Francisque Darne "Poincons" or, quality stamps. Geoffroy has a bit different version of the catalog, still Jallas and Cie, but, it appears to be different vintage than mine.




Type 3 and 4 Fixe models were cataloged on a different page than the grade 5,6,7, and 8, which were referred to in the catalog as model "Platines". I'm not positive which grade your gun is, and would likely need to do some more research through different vintage Jallas and Cie catalogs to come up with it. One clue to the age of your gun, is the note of the winning of the gold medal in 1914, which, I would guess, leads to production in the late teens to maybe 1930. That stamp eventually disapeared on later guns.



I only put a few of your pictures up, Carl, as only a few were composed well enough to be useful to the discussion. Photographing guns is tough. Try to get a few more well illuminated shots of the barrel flats and tubes just in front of them, and of the action, open and closed.

A digital camera is a better tool for this than a phone.

Best,
Ted

You are so right, I will take some properly lighted shots of barrel flats.
Can you tell me who Ted Neal is, I am not familiar with him?
As to restocking the gun, could it be he repaired a part of the stock as opposed to restocking it? I ask this as the stock is very worn out, but there is a small piece of the stock at the point where the hidden sling is, that is not the same wood. It was a repair job, nicely done.

Other than he had restocked Darne and Charlin guns, and one of them made it into an article in DGJ, the name Ted Neal doesn't mean anything to me.

I am referring to the gun in the ad when I mention the name Ted Neal, NOT your gun-I haven't seen a good photo of the wood on your gun, as of yet.


If you look at the entire ad on Guns International, you will see that it is a pretty spectacular piece of Claro on that gun, which was not available, or, desired by those that would have built it. It is a full restock. Ted Neal is mentioned by name, and it appears he is a hell of a stocker, anyway.

The "Automatique" sling is interesting, but, is, in my opinion, the least desirable of the three sling options. It is narrow, and difficult to fit, and a bit frail in function, as someone already discovered on your gun. Be gentle with it.

Best,
Ted

Don't think I'll even use it.
The wood on the stock is nice but not exceptional.I will send a picture of stock.
Carl

Ted, I have removed the stock on my Darne P-17 with no difficulties but the interior of this gun is totally different. Do you know if it has the same screw in the receiver that threads into a metal rod in the neck of the stock?
Carl

Carl,
I've handled lots of Darne, and their clones, but, the only guns I have pulled down to bits on my own are Halifax, R and V model Darnes, and run of the mill Charlins, if that term can be applied to a sliding breech gun.
Again, good photos would help.

Good Luck.

Best,
Ted

do they still make the Darne or Charlin anymore?And the next thing
i hope and Mr.Schefelbein would write a book on these beautiful firearms.I love these firearms and would buy one but know nothing
about them.Iam a Wildfowler as the british call it and i collect 10,8and 4-bore shotguns,and when i ask many people about did Darne
make super big bore shotguns all i get is i don't know.So Mr.Schefelbein we all hope you are thinking about it.