Originally Posted By: Argo44
Amazing. Ask a question and guys start pulling stuff out from under their beds. It's so difficult to date Saint Etienne guns.....except maybe it won't be that difficult anymore. Simply amazing.


Argo, not to be a pessimist . . . but the real issue, on top of a whole bunch of small St. Etienne shops, is the fact that the French never used a date code. In contrast to the Germans, Italians, Spanish, etc. Nor are there quite as many handy clues as there are on British guns, thanks to the number of times they changed their rules of proof. Even a big company like Verney-Carron can't give dates on pre-WWII guns. When I inquired about one I owned years ago, they were very helpful: pages from their catalog pinning down the model and grade, and providing the year in which those guns were first offered. But no serial number list or anything like that.

Nevertheless, a whole lot of very useful information is being turned up. Bravo!