doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Guess your best.

Doing a little fine gun babysitting this week, and have come across a rare bird. All you guys that have a little Darne knowledge take a stab at what we are looking at.



Everybody thinks that a shot of the flats will help. It doesn't help me much, but, the proof with powder M gives an idea as to age, if nothing else.



It isn't very likely that it is what you think.

Best,
Ted

It's obviously a Darne, it says so on that barrels release thingy. Or is this just a cheap Darne copy?

Interesting ACIER MANDRINE tube steel type. There's some patent info on the underside of the right tube.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Just a stab, Could it be a model P?

You get the prize for clearest thinking, but, I'll be completely honest-I have no idea, really, exactly what it is. The gun predates the typical Darne grading system, and is proofed with a powder that ceased being used before 1900.
It has a rocker safety, similar to the 1894 patent R, a large key action, and a removable breech block, unlike a model P. However, the method one uses to remove the breech block is unlike anything I've ever seen:



Once you have the very V like action open, you can slide the little serrated tab down in the slot, and at that point, raise the key and slide the breech off in normal Darne fashion.

The gun has what appears to be a mount to use it in punt gun fashion, in the bottom:




Here is a better shot of the flats, for Raimey:



The gun is, sadly, a wall hanger at this point. Both rails in the breech suffer from fractures, likely the result of amature gunsmithing, not honest use, although the gun has seen plenty of that.

Bubba owned the gun, at one point. Although the gun was fitted for the Bretelle Darne, he elected to install sling swivels, anyway, after the fact.
The Bretelle always was expensive, right to this day-a new one, fitted up to the gun, is most of $500:



V grade? P grade? Something else, custom built back in the day?

I really don't know.

Thanks Ted for the effort but for the moment I can't make it out. It would not surprise me if the tubeset was serialized. If so, the XXXX.XXXX on the lower rib may be a date.serial number.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Raimey, my digital camera fits in my shirt pocket, the photos aren't the best.The numbers read, left to right, 1900 and 8975. The guns serial is 759, that also appears on the under rib.
The oval, on the underside of the right tube, in back near the lug, has a crown with the initials DD and a tiny star under it. There is a tiny triangle with a D in it on the other side? Didier? Maybe.
"Acier Mandrine" would lead one to think mandrel drawn steel tubes.
Assuming the 1900 is a date, I'm not sure why one would go back to powder M for proof, unless the tubes were made and proofed a few years prior to being used.
It is a sweet handling old gun.

Best,
Ted

I'm confident on the 1900 date for the tubeset. What are the characters near the SGDG - Sans Garantie du Gouvernement( 'brevets sont d�livr�s sans examen pr�alable, aux risques et p�rils des demandeurs, et sans garantie soit de la r�alit�, de la nouveaut� ou du m�rite de l�invention, soit de la fid�lit� ou de l�exactitude de la description '), FON RTN?

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Also was there a Certificate of Utility akin to the DRGM(Gebrauchsmuster) for the period?

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Raimey,

Sorta.
The letters "Fon R Tee" appear before the S.G.D.G. The barrels are double proofed.
Certificates, from that era, are above my pay grade, unfortunately.

Best,
Ted