Hi Mike,
Thanks for the links. That Prestige is amazing. Personally, I don't think I'd like the fat fore-end much, but there's no doubting the care and skill that went into it.
Actually, this will make three St. Etienne doubles for me. I just posted pics of a 20-gauge Darne R15 on another thread.
My first French shotgun, and truth be told, the first gun I bought in about 30 years, is anonymous as far as I can tell, though it has matching serial numbers and St. Etienne proofs. It's a well used field-grade 12 with 70-cm barrels and 65-mm chambers. Kind of reminds me of an old Birmingham 12 (Webley & Scott, I think) I owned back in the day: light (6 pounds 1 ounce), nicely balance, case colors gone and a bit of freckling on the barrels, generally plain but with a few surprising touches of class, such as fine scroll engraving around the hinge and a couple screws, carved fences, a bit of figure in the oil-finished walnut, and checkering that's notably finer than on my 1970s-vintage Darne. When I get my photographic skills honed a bit. I'll post some pics of it.
Bill
Last edited by billwolfe; 11/30/13 01:16 PM.
