doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Pondevaux of St. Etienne 16g. Double

Most interesting there WC. So are you now a beater for the wild bovine in the Northern part of California? I'll see if I can't follow up on the Henri Vincenot cat.

Kind Rergards,

Raimey
rse

I failed to include an image of the datastring 1885.4911 which is an effort to mimic canonnier L�opold Bernard.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

1885 is the year? 4911 is a serial number.

It is the serial number for the tube set, not for the gun.
Bernard's numbering system was sequential for all barrel sets made.
Didier Drevet was probably no different.

Towards the end of Bernard's company, he replaced dates with code letters (a la Belgian proof mark date code), probably so that customers would not complain that the tubes were much older than the gun. It is common to have one year difference between the tubes and the gun manufacturing dates.
I have seen on this board an example where the gun was much younger than the tube-set (by over 10 years IIRC).

It was common for the barrel maker to make a barrel assembly and sell it with ribs and all to the gunmaker. This is probably OK for shotguns, but not OK for a double rifle. My Rieger DR with Bernard barrels was not regulated whatsoever. JJ put that to rest 115 years after it was first sold .

Best regards,
WC-

Hi Raimey,
I don't hunt wild cattle, but wild quails, hare, pigs and deer.
It's not uncommon for me to walk 10 miles in the process.
However, my 20 Ga Granger is pretty light, so it does not have a sling...
My 12 Ga Ideal does however.
Best regards,
WC-

By the way, it's interesting to see that the Choke indication is abnormal, language wise. One should write "Pas pour balles" instead.
Seems to be a word for word translation of the British proof mark of that time "Not for Ball".
Choke with an accent is also weird as it is grammatically a "participe passe" same construction as "choked" but this would mean that "choke" is a French verb which it is not. The proper translation would have been "etrangle" with accents.
Seems to show that Drevet wanted to copy the latest fashionable trends which were probably British at the time.
Best regards,
WC-

A Granger!!! As in Georges Granger??

who else?
M-

The shotgun arrived yesterday. That Texas gunshop deserves credit for quick shipping, and they sent it in a decent Bob Allen gun case all for $30.

The shotgun is beautiful, has great lines (extraordinarily slender and quick pointing), good bores, no pitting, but there is actually a problem with the fore-end. That rather cool, thumb-release opener at the front end does not actually work. The fore-end will not detach from the action. (See photos 48-50)

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=485895913

Oddly enough, despite the fore-end refusing to come apart from the action, you can separate the barrels (and even --after a lot of fiddling-- put them back together.


Hammers have got working half cocks. Springs are strong. But everything is extremely stiff, so, beyond the fore-arm's mechanics needing repair, I'd say the locks, triggers, and opening parts really need a good lubrication.

For the quality of the gun and the price, I'm not inclined to complain, but I could use a recommendation of a gunsmith able to work on antique high-end doubles.


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A bit more info: A few bits of gold inlay are missing. The large gold thingummy on the underside (photo:32) shows significant wear, but is recognizable as a French baron's heraldic chapeau.

I would guess the forend is not designed to come off. Not a rare occurrence on European guns.