Francottes are wonderful and the pictured gun looks like the earlier version of what will later be a Grade 14. I was given a Damascus gun just like this when I was about 13 years old. It was my initiation into a love affair with Francottes that extended into several visits to Abercrombie and Fitch in the early sixties to study the offerings of the time. At the time, the Knockabouts retailed at $425, a price that doomed the brand in this country forever. My collection at this time consists of Knockabouts in 12 and 28 gauge in very high condition, both provenanced in V L & D records. They are great guns, but I am anxious to find another Damascus Grade 14 like the one I had as a teenager.
Eightbore, I think it was about that time when A&F started bringing in the Zoli-Rizzinis as their sxs "knockabout" offerings. Those are also nice, solid doubles--but not Francottes. The high cost of making guns in Belgium also caused Browning to give up on FN and switch to Miroku-made doubles. Again, good guns . . . but too bad.
