Bonny, if the stocks are indeed "beech" I doubt if original wood. Darne used walnut. As for pressed on checkering, that wouldn't be Darne. They were hand checkered. Perhaps the wood has been refinished and the checkering was sanded giving it the appearance you note. The actions are probably the strongest made on a double. I don't believe shooting appropriate shells would loosen the action. Hopefully Ted will give his opinion. He's probably seen and handled more Darnes on this side of the pond than anyone. While the guns may appear to be plain, they are the same actions that are found in the higher graded guns. Gil
