March
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Who's Online Now
6 members (SKB, Travis S, Owenjj3, gunmaker, Sandlapper, 1 invisible), 363 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums10
Topics38,374
Posts544,006
Members14,391
Most Online1,131
Jan 21st, 2024
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 4 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
bonny #491328 09/29/17 11:52 PM
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 182
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 182
I heard it, Father Ted, and I live it!!! That's how the gun arrived but I was too green to know what I was looking at and to lazy or distracted to get it straight to someone who would know. It all worked out for the best. I bought the gun for around $1k less than an R15 generally sells for and spent about that much getting it right.

bonny #491329 09/30/17 12:03 AM
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 683
Sidelock
*
Offline
Sidelock
*

Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 683
I really love mine. It's a lower grade, utility gun and I love its eccentricities. Lightweight. I first saw a Darne in Vietnam, thought it was weird then and think so now. Mine is plain-stocked and unadorned, but I really like the 20 ga little fellow. I have no problem with the LOP; like to get up close. If it was a 12 ga I might object. Probably the last shotgun I'll buy.

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711
Likes: 730
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711
Likes: 730
Originally Posted By: postoak
The vintage examples generally were stocked to fit a runty 9 year old, in my experience.


Thanks to Argo and his ongoing quest for more accurate dating of French guns, we can say this is pre 1912 and post 1900, which, seems vintage enough for me:






Almost perfect dimensions, but, a bit short to use with just a t-shirt. It will be exactly perfect, come December.

I would have guessed pre 1920 with this gun. Argo narrowed that window down some.

Generalizations are often just that. I'm guilty of it myself. The chokes were .007 and .015, which, isn't all that tight by French standards. Of course, I have no idea if they were altered. Tight chambers, tight bores, all as per usual, and I have no intention of modifing anything on those pristine bores. The righthanded button safety is unusual. I'm having issues with my left eye, and this gun will be instrumental in helping me to learn to shoot right handed.

Best,
Ted

bonny #491379 09/30/17 03:35 PM
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2,308
Likes: 44
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2,308
Likes: 44
A Darne in France dies every time one is put in the trunk of an Oldsmobile.

https://youtu.be/SbF0qP7tgeU


________________________
Every Darne deserves a DS.
https://youtu.be/V6bIh2HQA44

Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 3,134
Likes: 309
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 3,134
Likes: 309
Ted, I think we can do better than 1900-1912. Is that the Halifax 3 you pictured previously? What's the serial number (can't make it out from the "dating early 20th Century Shotguns" line). But if it has an "A" prefix, per the SN chart posted by GLS (with all its imperfections) - it figure it to be 1910. Here's the analysis"

The "letter" series began in 1910. If your gun has a letter series SN and the cm chamber mark, it would date the Halifax 3 between 1910 and 1912.

We've posted Darnes in the "C600" series with both cm and mm stamps - meaning they almost certainly were mid 1912 when the chamber stamps changed:
-- C692, a 12 gauge with a chamber stamp 6.5".
-- C643, a 20 gauge with a chamber stamp "70".

Analysis continued:
-- 1910-1912 - A001 to C650 = 2650 guns (more or less) made with chambers in cm...beginning with A0001 - ending about C650 or so)....
-- Since we don't know when in 1910 the A series began or exactly what month in 1912 the cm/mm changeover took place - say anywhere from 20 to 30 months of production = take a stab - if 24 months (June 1910-June 1912) then about 110 a month? Pretty easy then to date the Halifax within 3 or 4 months if the chart is true and yours has an alphabet prefix).



Oh yes, in Spring 1971 I drove across France in a Citroen Deux Chevaux; I owned an Oldsmobile once but in Brussels 1985-88 drove a fuel injected Renault 21, a pocket rocket - ran a BMW out of gas at 130+mph running up from Luxembourg to Brussels..




Last edited by Argo44; 10/01/17 08:47 PM.

Baluch are not Brahui, Brahui are Baluch
bonny #491399 09/30/17 11:25 PM
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711
Likes: 730
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711
Likes: 730
Argo,
This gun has a bunch of DIFFERENT serial numbers on it, but they are all in the 3500-3900 range-4 digit, no letter prefix.
Further complication is that the Halifax was not cataloged that early, and I suspect there was but one, not the 3 and 4 number grades that came later. The Halifax grade guns tended to come and go with the ups and downs of the economy.
As I stated previously, I owned a V20 Darne that was in the 50,000 serial number range and was dated to 1910 by the Darne factory. The number was less important for accurate dating than the signature of the engraver on the gun, and the quality (lack thereof, actually) of the very old man who was still working into his 90s.

The Olds likes gas, good gas at that. There is nothing like the sound of an American open element, dual exhaust, pushrod V8 coming into the cam and the secondaries of the carb, blasting down a freeway entrance ramp, and that makes it all worth while.

Best,
Ted

bonny #491400 09/30/17 11:36 PM
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 3,134
Likes: 309
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 3,134
Likes: 309
I am schooled and I learn...and the Olds from the 1960 muscle car era looked something like this:


Last edited by Argo44; 09/30/17 11:37 PM.

Baluch are not Brahui, Brahui are Baluch
bonny #491401 10/01/17 01:18 AM
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2,308
Likes: 44
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2,308
Likes: 44
^^^^^^^
Gauche.


_______________________
Iso Grifo

bonny #491405 10/01/17 07:30 AM
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,372
Likes: 103
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,372
Likes: 103
Argo, I had the next step up from a Deux Chevaux when I lived in Morocco: Renault R-4. A white R-4 was by far the most common car you saw. It was my "work" car, and with local plates, I really blended in . . . which is why real spies don't drive rare and expensive sports cars. (But I always had to look at the license plate to make sure I was getting into the right car!) On the other hand, that little R-4 wasn't much for vehicular surveillance if the "rabbit" I was chasing drove much faster than 60 mph.

Back to Darnes: They're great if you're shooting paper shells in very humid conditions, when they're likely to get stuck in break action guns. That's supposedly one reason for the design.

bonny #491407 10/01/17 09:40 AM
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711
Likes: 730
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711
Likes: 730
Gene,
I actually owned a copy of the 1971 W30 442:



If a guy needed a front clip for that car, you would be out most of 10K.

What I keep in the garage, today:



Having an old car around keeps you proficient with your tools. I just serviced the wheel bearings in the rear axle of the gold 1967 442. I also serviced the fuel pump in my Wife's 2006 Malibu, I enjoy working on an older car much more than newer cars.

You can put many, many Darnes in the trunk of a 1967 442.

Best,
Ted

Page 4 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Link Copied to Clipboard

doublegunshop.com home | Welcome | Sponsors & Advertisers | DoubleGun Rack | Doublegun Book Rack

Order or request info | Other Useful Information

Updated every minute of everyday!


Copyright (c) 1993 - 2024 doublegunshop.com. All rights reserved. doublegunshop.com - Bloomfield, NY 14469. USA These materials are provided by doublegunshop.com as a service to its customers and may be used for informational purposes only. doublegunshop.com assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in these materials. THESE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT-ABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. doublegunshop.com further does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these materials. doublegunshop.com shall not be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, including without limitation, lost revenues or lost profits, which may result from the use of these materials. doublegunshop.com may make changes to these materials, or to the products described therein, at any time without notice. doublegunshop.com makes no commitment to update the information contained herein. This is a public un-moderated forum participate at your own risk.

Note: The posting of Copyrighted material on this forum is prohibited without prior written consent of the Copyright holder. For specifics on Copyright Law and restrictions refer to: http://www.copyright.gov/laws/ - doublegunshop.com will not monitor nor will they be held liable for copyright violations presented on the BBS which is an open and un-moderated public forum.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.0.33-0+deb9u11+hw1 Page Time: 0.071s Queries: 35 (0.050s) Memory: 0.8558 MB (Peak: 1.8987 MB) Data Comp: Off Server Time: 2024-03-28 18:16:31 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS