doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Information on Gunmaker Rivolier Pere et Fils

Looking at a French shotgun with 26" tubes and 65mm chambers, fixed chokes. I have attached a few photos below. I have done some searching on line but can't find much on this builder.

Seems like an upper grade gun with the wood, checkering and heel/toe plates but very little engraving which I find a bit unusual.

Any thoughts on the gun or maker would be appreciated....

** Added Pics of the Markings ***

Thanks,
WBLDon

Guild gun made for a retailer. (Corrected Rivolier was a gun manufacturer.)

Possibly http://www.rivolier.com (correction per a later post, a successor company to the manufacturer of guns)

Pics of barrel flat proofmarks may help (thanks for the additional picture of barrel flat)

PS nice looking gun, lovely

That is a beautiful shotgun!!! Love that blonde stock.

You can scroll left and right to see the images. There were several posts on this thread that don't want to come up.
http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=355685

Here's another
http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=309184

Rivolier Pere et Fils was a bicycle and arms manufacturer located in St. Etienne since around 1830. As you have noted, information is pretty sparse on these fairly obscure guns. Apparently, most were built between 1928 and 1940, but the last shotguns were built around 1973. The company stopped manufacturing bicycles in 1950.

Assuming the date of 1973 is accurate for last production of shotguns, the one you have here looks like a virtually unused closet queen, or one that has been nicely refinished. The very light color of the wood is common to French Walnut... which is actually English Walnut grown in France.

You can disregard the information given by Gladys Kravitz, I mean old colonel. The Rivolier family reorganized the company in the early 1970's, and is now a French Defense Contractor that also is a retailer of hunting, fishing, optics, and outdoor goods.

What you see there is not "virtually unused closet queen" however whoever restored and restocked that gun did a wonderful job.

Any Guess as to the Age?

WBLDon

Keith, thank you for you kind words and additional information.

Bles you

There is a lot of information In French on Revolier Pere & Fils on the French net. If you'd like any particular entry translated...I'll have a go at ti as long as it's not book -length. It's a well known firm which was a manufacture of guns for 200 years...and later switched to a retailer in the late 1900's. There is an article I found on the destruction of St. Etienne artisanal gun industry after WWII which mentions Revolier. Sad...how do you compete against Remington?

The older Rivolier Pere et Fils shotguns appear to have a different action than the one you have here. Photos of later versions show an action profile and pin locations identical to this one, but sans side clips. Here's one that appears to have original wood. I'd like to know who restocked this one though.

http://www.naturabuy.fr/RIVOLIER-PERE-ET-FILS-TRADE-UNION-MARK-CAL-20-70-item-2968392.html