My copy, traded to me by Mr. Steve Bodio and restocked to fit me, while I stood there and tried it as he went, by Bruchet, is likely to be the only Darne I ever see that truly fits me.
Ted, that's an interesting provenance. A gun for gun trade?? Gil
No. Mr. Bodio was interested in a new Darne slug gun. He had been spending a lot of time in Mongolia, and wanted a gun suited for big game and bird hunting. I didn't typically deal in used Darnes as I figured out pretty early in the game that fit was especially critical, and I wasn't interested is selling people guns that didn't fit them. I accepted his gun, a 1946 vintage R10, in trade as I knew it could be restocked to fit a south paw (me) for a bunch less than a new gun-I'm cheap. It is stocked in the French "Galwi" pattern, and has the Darne sling installed. As both my Father, and my first Gordon setter aged, I was thankful to have had that sling fitted to the gun.
I have used that gun relentlessly, but, have had little time for bird hunting since my son was born. It's not for sale.
The only used Darnes I ever sold as the importer were a 28 gauge Bruchet that an outdoor writer (not Larry) asked me to dipose of, because it didn't fit him (it wouldn't have fit any upright hominid that I ever knew) and the R16 grade magnum 12 gauge that was my demo gun for a decade, which, was a spectacular gun. I had a guy who used to call me once a week, for about five years, asking if I had any used Darne 28 gauges, and he was simply delighted to get that Bruchet, even though it didn't fit.
I was simply delighted that he quit calling.
I'm not a very good salesman.
Best,
Ted
