doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Meriden Firearms Co

revdocdrew:

If I am not mistaken, somewhere near 4th grade I had that exam with few others where you try to put a square peg in a round hole and then take the ink blot test. To top it off, in Art History in undergrad, had to identify 300 consecutive photos each displayed for about 30 seconds on a projector for the final exam.

I'm not a fan of wild parsely or hemp, so I might not be a candidate.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Raimey,

I don't know enough to answer your question directly, but the damascus looks just like the most recent photo posted by revdocdrew (large scroll 2 Iron Crolle, Thanks Rev!). I just do not have a proper guage, but we screwed around with the dime on each bbl for a minute or so, and it would not pass through, nor would it enter far enough to wedge itself. There are no obvious file or saw marks on the muzzles, so they don't obviously look cut.

Pete, I just re-confirmed the serial number as 26941.

revdocdrew, there is a D over a C on each bbl just forward of the flats. They're not deep, it looks as if they were almost buffed out in the finishing.

Thanks to all,
Jeff

Jeff L.:

If it's not too late, you should make your folks a wish list from Galazan's site for the brass chamber gauge and chokes and have a late useable Christmas gift.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Jeff: would it be possible to post ultra close-up pics of those brl marks? 'D' could be Jean Delcour-Dupont, a Nessonvaux brl maker,but that mark is usually a 'Crown over D'. 'C' could be Lucien Clement, but that mark has been found on other Sears guns as 'CC'.
or send the pics by jpg attachment to revdoc2@cox.net and thanks!

This faint 'fused CL' on the left brl is on an A.J. Aubrey, probably Lucien Clement also

This time you may actually be on to something...I read years ago ...When a meteor shower in Northern Canada (c1960) triggered an ergot blight on the winter rye/wheat crops, the Canadian government bailed out the Farmers that were hit hardest. Shortly afterwards, a MIT researcher was plotting where and when the Earth's rotation was positioned as it traveled through the very same asteroid field in decades and centuries past, when people were forced to eat the crops anyway. This led new understandings of the Salem witch trials. Now I hear researchers have linked ergot poisoning to the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition as well. Many historians scoffed at the concept until autopsies of medieval corpses showed the theory to be correct in a few cases.

Then only about 4 years ago, I also read that a naturally occurring hallucinogenic compound in the gaseous state (not known to chemists) was discovered leaking from cracks in the rock floor of the dungeon that held the Oracle(s) of Delphi for over 1000 years.

We are just beginning to understand the role of ergot poisoning and human history...if it turns out that mingled or watered steel is someday connected, I won't be suprised, but I will remember that Raimey suggested it first

PS ...ergot mold is where LSD was first derived from

revdocdrew,

It may take a day or two, but I'll try the pics. Any quick suggestions on taking a decent closeup? I'm not much of a photographer, but our camera is decent enough (Canon digital Rebel), and I can turn the knob to the "closeup" setting. If there aren't any obvious suggestions, I can certainly keep snapping until I get a legible shot.

Raimey,

Thanks for a great suggestion! It doesn't look like anybody is going to give me that 20 ga. Philly SW w/ 26" bbls choked IC/M that I've been asking for (especially my wife!), so a bore guage might be just the item someone will bite off on!

Thanks!

Jeff

Raimey, good on the photos. Set the camera on closeup [macro] which is sometimes denoted as a flower on the camera setting dial. Then use a medium or dark background material to lay the gun on. Do not use a flash or direct sunlight. Indirect sunlight like a north window works well, or just take the pictures in the shade. Your camera should be able to do the rest. Some cameras let you push the shutter button half way down before you take the picture. This lets the camera adjust itself to the scene and take sharp images.

Many thanks to Jeff for his excellent pic of the 'CD' or 'DC' on the brls of his A.J. Aubrey. Looks like I've got some Holiday Homework to do, because that doesn't fit any member of the Syndicat des Fabricants de Canons de Fusil de la Vesdre or known gunmaker

What an idiot Canons Delcour was the barrel making branch of Jean-Baptiste Delcour-Dupont of Nessonvaux!! The usual mark is a Crown over D and has been found on damascus Smith guns.
http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20d/a%20delcour%20dupont%20gb.htm
They could certainly have supplied the 4-, 5-, and 6- blade damascus on the higher grade Aubrey and Meriden guns.

Drew,

Nice catch!!

I missed this one. I updated my Belgian sheet with it as well.

Some more information Jean-Baptiste from "Le Qui est Qui";
Jean was the father of Lucien Delcour.
He was a manager for Pieper & Cie then opened his own shop and specialized in Damascus barrels.
1910 received a patent for making sxs shotgun barrels
1921 registered the trade name of "Canons Delcour"
The Delcour company was in business all the way through 1968.

With his connections to Pieper and the fact the Sears catalog shows Diana ( a Pieper trade mark) grade guns, I would not be surprised if Delcour was a major supplier for Meriden. You are correct, he would have had the resource in Nessonvaux to supply any type of barrel Meriden/Aubrey could want.

Pete