Re the source of pre-WWII European guns: While there was no shortage of doubles from Europe that made it to the States before WWII, most of them that were imported came from either Germany or Belgium. The French makers of that era simply didn't make much of an effort to penetrate the American gun market. So what would have been the source of all the pre-WWII French doubles we see in this country? My guess is that most of them likely did come back in some GI's duffelbag when they returned home from Europe. Likely quite a few pre-WWII German guns as well which weren't destroyed by our occupation troops. One way to tell a legitimate German pre-war import from a war trophy is that in many cases, German guns destined for the US market used English words, maybe the best example being "son" vs "sohn" on Sauers imported by Von Lengerke & Detmold/Abercrombie & Fitch.
As for pre-WWII French guns, certainly some could have been purchased in France after the war. In terms of condition, one of the nicer French doubles I've ever owned was a Verney-Carron from the 30's. Would have been nice to know how it made its way to the States. But in most cases, how they got here will remain a mystery.
