doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com French Shotguns: A Call for Information

Yes, it is Pirlet, Larry. Sorry. Only seen one, in Florida. Bill Wise sent me off on a picture-taking mission on that one and stated later that he believed it was of Belgian manufacture.

jack

I also love French shotguns. I have a Charles Galand. I have never seen another one anywhere and have not been able to get any information on it. It is a pleasure to shoot. It was made in Paris. It is a 12 bore with 27" barrels. I would post better pictures but the gun is currently at the gunsmiths. My wife has a 16 bore Manufrance Robust. Also very nice and I am very envious of it. Though she will let me shoot it if I ask real nice.

Dave B

Robert- I hurriedly uploaded those attachments during a break, it seemed to work just fine. I don't know if there are limits here on posting, I sure hope not (on that and the other questions, I guess we'll need to see if a moderator has the answers). As far a my photobucket, I haven't had any indication there is a limit or if so that I am near my limit, so I am happy to help you with any of your posts in the event you find you continue to have problems.

I finally had a chance to go through the materials. Having had only one semester of French in college (many, many years ago), my understanding of French is essentially based on common words and those that have Latin roots I recognize. I did get the pages out of order. The catalogue does appear to describe "my" MAC, so may gun could very well be post war. I saw the reference to 1945 (after the victory) so the catalogue as you stated is post war. The specifications mention the triple lock (two lugs and the lever) the 65mm 16ga chambers and steel used in my gun. More compelling are the photos which appear mirror my MAC (which isn't to say that the gun was not a pre-war design).

Thanks so much for sharing your information, your keen eye and more importantly your ability associate your data. Amazing!

Doug

These guys have finally got there mugs on the WWW 60 yrs later

How about the Granger(?) anyone here ever shot or handled one of these shotguns??? Do they handle as good as an English 'Best' game gun?
All the best

Doug, I could probably put together the start of a French to English translation guide specifically geared toward double gun nomenclature. I don't know how much interest there is in such a specialized subject, but some of my catalogs are in French & English, and at least one or two have translation glossaries already in the back of the catalog. I could post half a dozen images to be saved, or better yet if someone else could distill the data down to one three page glossary to be posted on a new thread, I will add a pile of dual language shotgun descriptions (images), other readers will surely correct any misunderstandings as well as add to the glossary based on their knowledge and translation of the dual language images. By the time the thread has played out, the end glossary could remain on the useful info page. It might be worth a try, the worst that could happen is we could start a thread that garners no interest. It's a good deal for me...all I have to do submit the frame work and images, and we'll all get the final product. Well, it's just an idea...

Sounds like a good idea Robert, a better idea would be for you to put all of this great information of yours into book form!!!! What about it Mr. Chambers????
All the best

I did a short French to English gun term glossary in an article in Shooting Sportsman a few years back. (Used to teach French, high school and university.) I'm not interested in doing long translations, but I'm always glad to help if someone gets stuck. Sometimes, however, even a French dictionary is of no help unless you understand guns pretty well. For example, in French, sideclips are "wings". First time I saw that in a description of a French gun, it took me a bit of time to figure out what the heck they were talking about.

OK...here is the last installment of the MAC catalog...I will try to keep it all together next time I post a catalog...those factory photos are the best close ups I could get, sorry they're so grainy...
As for a book, I already have enough unpublished data compiled to publish a book on Western New York gunmakers, a book on tang sight identification, and a massive book on Belgian SxS makers. When it comes to French SxS makers, I am barely a contributor.
Mr. Brown, I am happy to hear that you think it's a possibility, rather than a lame idea. A translation glossary would certainly make my Belgian data more palatable.

In fact, I can't even identify some of my own Frenchies. The following is two 16ga project guns that I've been restocking and restoring, so they're not really ready to show. The first is a Darne type with no makers marks anywhere. I must have records on at least twelve different names associated with Darne type shotguns, but so far I can't identify the maker of this shotgun.






The second is a very well made boxlock that I am stocking to my likes rather than a typically French design. Diamond grip with sunken side panels and drops were not original to the gun...it's just a shooter...





Note the Purdey type bolt rather than the Helice-Grip quad lock up or it's three bite Verney Carron sister, Triple Verrou.