Originally Posted by HomelessjOe
What was the idiot thinking when he designed the Darne action....

Had he been eating syslicidial mushrooms fresh from the fields ?

He was an engineer, who clearly understood the limitations of using a hinge in the middle of a firearm.

He died in 1939, fabulously wealthy by European standards. He held many, many patents:

https://archive.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1299

Best,
Ted