doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Frenchie Ideal thing....odd firing pin placement..

It doesn't take any time to get use to the eye guard.
They are great guns just like LeFusil said. I hope to own many more!

Jaqua's also has one on their list, without the "lunettes" trigger guard.

I had a pretty basic one that had been restocked, and not too well. The one thing that bothered me, as a field gun, was that the safety is bass-ackwards: you slide it BACK to take it off safe.

The one Dustin owned is indeed a beautiful gun.

Maybe in Europe this is true, not here in the U.S. There just arent enough Ideals in this country to collect, if you find one and you want one, you buy it because you probably wont see another one like in a very long time.
Most hunters here will be wearing gloves at some point during the upland season, this is where the "eyeglass" or "lunnette" trigger guard becomes a bit cumbersome. And I believe if it was "superior" to the standard type trigger guard, Manufrance would've kept putting them on their guns right up until the end.

. . . and the lever does it all, pulls back the double underbite, pulls down and returns the bifurcated rising bite, cocks the "catapult" type strikers. Now that my lever return spring is in, gun reassembled, the "arrowheads" of checkering recut at head of stock and stock refinished with slackum, I should be busy right now fabricating a replacement sling disconnect for mine (retract mech is good) but I got distracted by a cheap marine gps plotter program with PC as the chartplotter (just out on the road with the whole rig and a DC/AC inverter a few minutes ago). And Xmas got in the way also. Should ask if the original disconnect is brass or steel? I think brass might not be rigid enuf given the delicate dimensions of the yoke arms. Very good fotos of the disconnect in the GunBroker ad; obvious how the upper lip of the disconnect fairs into the steel keeper inlet in the stock and shows the engraving. Are the "stopper" horns on the disconnect always crosshatched?

EDIT: I see now that the disconnect is definitely steel.


jack

Jack,

The connector piece is steel, probably mild. The horns are generally crosshatched, which you can do with some very small files.
I have the same type of project coming up along with a new stock for a 16 ga that has excellent barrels and a very nice action.

Larry, the first Idéals did not have a safety. You close the gun uncocked and cock it
by pulling the lever as you mount to shoot. Forget the safety.

Lapin, the sling disconnect, as you surmised, is steel, and not that mild. I had to go at
one and it was quite hard.

It should be noted that the original patent for Idéals is from 27 October 1887, and it
had a "normal" trigger guard. The "eyeglass" guards appeared in the first guns and
were discontinued in 1909.

Here is mine with "classic" trigger guard.


JC

In the orifginal USA patente it have lunnete triggerguard.



Thanks
Martin

But, the original French Patent does not:


Wonder why they went with the "eyeglasses".

JC

P.S.: Size is big on purpose so you all can see all the details! jc

JC,
Thanks for sharing.
I edit my post so my picture is bigger than yours :).

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR ALL !!!!!!!!!!

Martin

I was told the lunette guns are always black powder proofed, the more typical trigger guard is always smokeless powder proofed. Haven't had enough of either through my hands to bear that information out.
Best,
Ted