doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Dave's French 12 Gauge

DaveinMaine asked me to post this for him: His analysis:

The gun is from Aime Maisonnial. S/N 12xx Best estimate is mid-20s or maybe 30s, given the Art Deco-ey carving. Barrels are Jean Breuil, 28+ inches (I'll say 71 cm - no metric ruler in my house), choked full and full, swamped rib, perfect bores and lots of meat in them. It's double-proofed at St. Etienne, with Birmingham proofs atop those. 12 ga, 2.5 inch. Strong ejectors, in time. Automatic safety. Good lockup - very solid.

I took it in to be checked out by Steve Dalzell. He really, really liked it. The cheeks of the stock showed vise marks, which Steve repaired. It came with the original horn butt plate which was really ratty. I needed about 3/8 or 1/2 inch more LOP, so Steve did an ebony butt plate to match the existing wood. There was a bit of grit in the safety, making it hard to push. That was fixed. We believe the receiver was French grey from the start - there is no sign of CCH anywhere. All the internals are finished to a high polish and numbered to the gun. Best guesstimeate is it was a bespoke gun, probably sold through Paris. May have been a pigeon gun. Made its way to England at some point, then was imported by someone in Maryland. They put it up on gunbroker.







My analysis pretty well echos Dave's:

French Markings:
. .On barrel flats:
. . . . .-- Jean Breuil – Saint-Étienne barrel maker
. . . . .-- SGDG - "Sans Garantie du Gouvernment" - patented but not guaranteed by the government.
. . . . .-- CANONIER ST. ETIENNE - Barrel maker Saint-Étienne
. . . . .-- Choke Rectifie Delalle – Barrels bored by Delalle
. . . . .-- 65 – 2 ½” chambers in mm (post 1921)

. .On barrels
. . . . .-- 18.3 – 12 Gauge
. . . . .-- Originally Double proofed in the Saint-Étienne proof house for PT powder
. . . . .-- *JB* - Jean Breuil
. . . . .-- A. MAISONNIAL – Likely Aime Maisonial. See information and video on this line:
https://doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=605133&page=1
. . . . .-- 1245 – Either Maisonial’s or Breuil's SN
. . . . .-- left barrel: Canon de Surete - Garantie - Double Epreuve = Safety barrels - guaranteed- double proofed
. . . . .-- right barrel: Crochets encastrés - xxxxxbloc-yyerence Parfait = Fitted lumps - "xxxbloc" (photo not clear) - Perfect "yyerence" (photo not clear)
. . . . .-- Marque Depose - registered trademark

Scroll back filed boxlock receiver; minimal engraving
Uses the VC "Helicegripp" system top lever
Barrels likely are the standard French 27 1/2"
Nice wood on the stock with standard French half grip.
Someone has removed the standard French sling swivels from the stock and forend.

UK Markings
. . . . .-- Reprooved in Birmingham, England between 1945-1989: (Wonder if this is a war trophy gun?)
. . . . .-- 2 ½” chambers,
. . . . .-- .729” – 12 gauge
. . . . .-- 3 tons

If the bores still measure .729 and the chambers haven’t been opened past 2 1/2”, that is a victory right there in an old French gun.

Fab likely knows where that action was produced, it is a very common boxlock, usually sold in the white, that was used by everybody in France and Belgium. You don’t see many with ejectors, fewer still with single triggers, but, both are out there.

Nice gun. In the ball park on age, take it out hunting or to the club.

Best,
Ted

Thanks for the kind words. The bores are perfect and the chambers 2.5". This is a double-trigger gun. It seems clear the swivels were removed. The pictures don't show it, but there's an insert that might be ivory but is more likely white plastic in the hole where a swivel once graced the buttstock. The swivel on the bottom rib, OTOH, was nicely, cleanly removed and not a trace left by whomever did it.

I like the gun. It is quite lively in the hand and carries light. At the same time, there's enough weight and the balance is a bit forward of the hinge such that when it swings it does not want to stop swinging.

The 1245 is most likely Maisonnial's s/n. Also not pictured, the number is repeated on the action flats, inside the fore-end and on the internal parts.

Left out a really good photo Dave sent:

There are known posts for Delalle - this one has the 6.5mm chamber in cm which we've been looking at - pre 1919? or 1921?



Also mentioned in previous BBS posts:
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=98663

had three sliding breech shotguns. One was a Darne: one of the others was a Charlin Automatique. Proofed in St Etienne, double proof (the Darne had treble proof). I don't know what the 'automatique' was about. The other was a Delalle, also St Etienne proofed (single proof). The Delalle was dated 1914. All had mechanisms identical to the Darne.

The fact the Delalle was boring barrels in the 1900's - 1910's would seem to push the date of the gun to the 1920's. Perhaps FAB500 can tell us who was Delalle.

Great style on the ‘pistol’ grip, I must say. Really goes well with the engraving pattern. Thanks for sharing.

Dave, very nice gun. Use it in good health! I know I have enjoyed my 16 gauge Maisonnial. Wonderfully made and handles great!