Greetings!
Pete, Gil has given you the name of the gunsmith I would recommend. What Miller has posted is somewhat true, depending on what Darne you have in hand:





The photo shows my R10, photographed and seen many times on this site, with the breech removed, flipped downside up, safety rotated down for clarity, and my tool of choice for R model Darne safety swapping pointing at the little flat spring that retains the safety. One only need pry up on the spring, pull out the safety lever, and reverse it while holding the spring up.
Then, the fun begins.
There is a detent, a flat spot filed into the shaft of the safety lever, that will no longer be under spring tension, so, you will have lost the indication of safety on or off. You can re-file another detent if the lever works out OK for you ergonomically, which, as Miller has also pointed out, isn't always the case. You may also find that the cuts in the shaft of the safety lever DO NOT align with the sears, and the safety either does not function as a safety, or, does not allow the triggers to trip the sears.
This case requires a bit more investigation and work, and, just from what I have seen over the years of dealing with Darne guns, if you need help figuring out how to flip the safety on a site like this, you aren't likely to be the guy to make it work after that discovery.
Send it to JJ.



Unrelated to Darne guns, I have been off-line for a while. I am fine, and wish to thank those concerned with my welfare. I am at a point where I need a new computer, and find myself not terribly interested in taking care of that problem. That, and spring has always been a very busy time for me. As Craig noted elsewhere, I have an 11 year old son, and as we have done every year since he was five years old, we participated in the Lake Pepin 3 Speed Tour, completing the 90 mile, two day tour on 50+ year old, 70 lb. English three speed bicycles:






There are perhaps 150 people who do the tour with the local English bicycle club. Most of them drop their cars in Red Wing, climb on their bikes and have no SAG for either the ride down Wisconsin 35, or, the ride back up US 61 in Minnesota the next day. The Colombian chick gets shoved into the cab of the F150, that has spare parts, tools, beer, and compressed air available in the bed. I have become, I suppose, a necessary evil to this group-I serviced a flat tire, this year, and pressed a cotter, sitting on my butt at the Maiden Rock rest stop, last year.

I am stunned at the number of people who hear about the ride, buy a $15 thrift store Raleigh, that has hung in the rafters for 4 decades, and show up on Saturday morning, without so much as a drop of oil being squirted into the rear hub.






Christopher has outgrown his 17" 1963 Raleigh Colt, and this will be his last year on it. The photo shows what you often start with for an older English bicycle that meets specific requirements (this is a small men's frame, that should fit him for several more seasons, when completed). It will be restored, and made ready for a club ride this fall, and he will use it for next years tour.

I've been busy. My brother and mother are disabled, and I spend more time every year helping them get through their days. I look at the for sale section every day, but, posting with the computers available to me at the moment has become a PITA.

I'll try not to be a stranger. Best wishes to you all.



Ted Schefelbein