I picked up a 12 bore sidelock by this maker. All I know as far as history of the company is from Little Gun. Apparently the firm started using this name in 1925. Do any of you have any information on this maker ? The gun appears, although I don't have it in hand, to be of high quality.

Darryl:
I don't know much of anything about this Continental maker but I agree with your assessment that it reeks of quality even from only a picture. I will be interested in whatever additional information comes to light here.
Jim
You may already have seen this link but I thought I'd post it here for others.
http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20l/a%20lajot%20fr.htm

Daryl, I have a very high quality 20 bore that has prooven difficult to document I was told it was made by N. Lasot (may not be the correct spelling),..made around 1927,. does your gun have an extra long fore end and gold plated internal parts?,...It looks similar to your gun

I think you will be pleased!

CJ

CJ, yes it is N.Lajot and Cie. I suspect that is probably what is on your gun. It must be a beauty and in 20 bore, too. How did you get the 1927 date ? I think the gun above is in the 14,000 serial range. How does that compare with yours ? Do you have any photos available ?

You no doubt have this Daryl, but thought I'd post it for others

Year of Control Codes
Lettres Annales (Dateletters): control (proof) date stamped after manufacture (and not necessarily the year of manufacture.)

Daryl,..can't tell you the ser # off the top of my head but I got the date from the proof marks,...I have some pictures but not on this PC,..I'll try to find them for you

CJ

Wow, Daryl, that is NICE!

Roy

Now Daryl, that'll be a good 'un to crash through our brush with trying to get to the bird before Mike's dog does.

It looks like we can tie down the date from Drew's chart. I think I am reading a "g" on the barrel flats and that would be 1928. The star over "U" inspector's code covers a broad span of years, but fits this period.

Daryl, I found the pictures of my gun, too busy right now- will post first chance I get

CJ

PS mine is "F"

I wish all the date codes on the barrel flats looked more like the letters in the chart! Agree that one looks closest to the 1928 "g", but it also bears a resemblance to the 1953 mark.

Larry, I agree on the clarity of some of the marks. I had to tilt the picture 90 degrees and looked at the best mark on the left barrel [right hand side in the photo] and it was a pretty good replica of the chart.

Here's a chart of the Greek alphabet to help interpret the 49' to 61' marks

Here are the pics as promised

CJ

C.J., thank you so much. I love it and the details on the interior. We , or at least I, sometimes forget how high the quality of a Belgian gun could be. I have a friend in Belgium who is always helping me understand that. Daryl

Here are a couple more photos of my gun. It is not in my hands, yet, so I don't know what the interior is like or whether or not it sports gold like yours. The Lajot and Cie appears on the top of the bar.

Here are a couple more pics, the guns seem to be very close in resemblance. I've looked at a lot of doubles and can tell you that the handling characteristics,..fit and finish on this gun are second to none. look at the second picture, you have to take a magnifying glass to see where the trigger plate joins the bottom of the frame, so much for belgian clunlkers....

Like My friend Mark says,...sometimes you buy the gun , not the name

CJ

C.J., thanks again. Yes, the lockup appears the same. Locks seem a little different. My gun is going to be too short. Maybe it is a candidate for a butt transplant as I need 15 1/2" and the lop to the wood is about 13 1/4 ". Does anyone know who does this work ?

Daryl,
Since it doesn't fit you, send it my way. My short arms should be a perfect fit.
Great gun. Congratulations!
Chris

Daryl,

Have you seen the work from Montana Long Guns in Polson?
I think they do a great job and they don't seem to be outrageously expensive.
http://www.mtlongguns.com
Beautiful gun!

Silver, thanks. I don't know how I have missed hearing about them. I plan to be at the Nimrod shoot in Polson in May and will look them up. Daryl