That is the latest incarnation of the Darne V gun, lever held in place by a powerful spring up the lever. Very good design, but, a bad, bad thing when the spring breaks. That is the bad news. The very good news is that in forty years of playing this game, I’ve never seen a broken Darne V lever spring. It happens infrequently enough that the guys in France didn’t give me a spare for my Darne dealer parts collection. The only spare V parts I got were trigger return springs, and I have every one I watched Paul Bruchet bend up for me when I was there.

Use that gun in good health. I was out today, using a straight stocked V19 20 gauge with a swamped rib. Too warm, too many bugs, but the worst thing was my dog handled three woodcock spectacularly, and the area I was hunting was closed to hunting migratory birds.

All we could do was watch them fly away.

[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]
[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]

Anyway, your Darne is a short chamber 12 (or, was a short chamber gun, might not be, now) that was subjected to French triple proof and marked with the new style marking for that level of proof. That mark came into use with the new proof laws, circa 1923. The old mark for triple proof had been four crossed sheaths of wheat. But, other marks are on the gun that disappeared from use around the same time the laws changed.

Again, I’m pretty close on the date. I’m mostly sure the last patent V gun was being produced and sold well before that patent was issued in 1928.

Best,
Ted