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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 459 Likes: 12
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 459 Likes: 12 |
I have a Darne V21 in the 8C series in 12 bore with 27" barrels. I admire the engineering - it is beautifully made, but not pleasant to shoot; the trigger pulls are poor (very poor compared to an English gun) and recoil/barrel flip are excessive - even with 3/4 oz loads. I am used to light English guns, but the Darne has a higher 'apparent recoil' weight for weight on the same cartridges. It will stay in my cabinet and have occasional outings simply because I like it. A gun for an occasional shot on a walked up day but I would never recommend it for a driven day, where it is slow and cumbersome to reload. The safety catch is also awkward and in typical French fashion, bizarre going forward for 'Safe' and backward for 'Fire'!
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711 Likes: 730
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711 Likes: 730 |
John, Believe it or not, the V safety was made like that to mimic the hammers on a hammer gun, the notion being, at the time, that most folks were familiar with pulling hammers back to fire. In the event a sport was ordering a new gun, it could be reversed, if he/she wanted. Few were.
Best, Ted
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 459 Likes: 12
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 459 Likes: 12 |
I wish mine had been reversed. It is the main reason I don't like to use the gun for walked up grouse in Scotland. It's just too easy to forget to pull in back in the heat of the moment when you have been walking hard on rough ground for an hour ....... and you don't get much time for the shot.
I seem to remember enquiring if it could be reversed easily as an afterthought and getting a negative response from whoever it was I asked (possibly William Powell as they did some work on the gun for me).
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711 Likes: 730
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711 Likes: 730 |
It can't be reversed after the fact, John. If you know what you want at the time a gun is commisioned, it is possible. Or, was. I have no evidence the company is producing guns at this time. Best, Ted
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 388 Likes: 1
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 388 Likes: 1 |
Does the safety engage automatically when the gun is reloaded ? Thats a feature i dislike and always disable if possible on any gun i own.
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 459 Likes: 12
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 459 Likes: 12 |
No, the safety is manual, but personally, I prefer automatic. It's a matter of what you are used to and I'm used to always sliding the safety catch forward as the gun comes to shoulder.
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 182
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 182 |
Ted, Thanks for posting the photos of that Halifax. The quality really shows. It's really impressive how much care and craftsmanship the best firms put into even their "low-grade" guns before the wars. That's just one beautiful piece. So great you found one that fits so well!
As Ted has pointed out, the R models have a handy workaround using the cocking lever as a safety. It's as ergonomic as you could wish and much bigger than any conventional safety button. I rarely bother with the push-through safety rod on my R15. Bill
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 182
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 182 |
Ted,
Yes, I did miss that when it was current. Thanks for the link. Always something new to learn about these guns. I hadn't known the bit about dry firing with impunity sans snap caps as long as the barrels are fixed. I do seem to recall GG or someone saying they don't bother to relieve the mainsprings when storing the gun. I don't have 20-gauge snap caps. Where to you land--store the gun cocked, use snap caps, or just pull the triggers on empty chambers?
BW
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 683
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 683 |
I'm certainly no authority, but I am pretty sure that there is no physical disadvantage to leaving the springs stressed. Springs don't wear out through tension, only through use, back and forth. And then only after a long time.
There may be other reasons for uncocking the gun, but spring wear isn't one of them.
Last edited by Genelang; 10/01/17 08:39 PM.
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