Chris,

It's a sliding breech gun, but may not be a Darne. Your man needs to check between the ears that pull up to move the breech. If the word "Darne" is there, it's a Darne. Edit: Thanks Ted for adding the note about the word, "Halifax," too.

A number of makers manufactured sliding breech guns, including a son of Regis Darne, Francisque. Also the Charlin is an elegant sliding breech that uses ball bearings to make a very smooth slide as you open/close the breech. Only Darne, now owned by the Bruchet family, is still in business.

A website for French guns, including sliding breech exists at
http://gournetusa.com/darneusa/new_page_1.htm

One you determine it's a Darne, the only way to get the model and grade is to look at the barrel flats where a number of small round marks may be punched. If there are none, but thw word Darne is on the flats (and between the ears) it's a R-10 if,say five, it's an R-15 after which you get a different design with V-grade that usually run from nine-twelve round punch marks V-19 to V-22. Check gunsamerica.com for asking prices of different models/grades.

If it is, say, a Charlin, you will see hares, or birds or stars to indicate the grade and the more of them the better...

Regards, Tim

Last edited by Tim Carney; 09/30/10 04:41 PM.