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Very nice checkering. As previously stated, gun shows little use. Gil

Is that a braze on the tube for the buttstock draw bolt? Maybe it broke/cracked when the wrist got cracked.

Single barrels can be great fun. I have a 32" barreled trap gun I play with occasionally on a dove field. Good luck with yours.

Stanton, what is the English name for that part 17 in the catalog? You know gun internals well.

I would call it the "cocking dog" (in an American term, not necessarily English), from my somewhat limited experience. However, what I don't know about French guns would fill volumes.

"Cocking dog" it is confirming Keith's observation and into the dictionary it goes. A "cocking sear" is also similarly described as having this sort of "comma shape." French verb serrer, "to grip", and the noun serre, "claw, talon, grasp."

Yep, there is a braze there. I thought when I pulled the stock off, and my first thought was a repair. I examined it closely and to me it looks like a perfectly square joint cut completely across on both pieces. The thoruoughbolt hole actually has quite a bit of clearance. Some guns, such as three Martini's I have worked on recently have short tang bores and the bolt fits ridoculouslyclose in the hole. I have never seen one of these before, but to me it looks like a threaded tube with the the female threads was brazed to a short stub at the back of the action. The action itself is pretty long, and so is the bolt tang. It may have been made this way to avoid an overlong casting. The bolt hole is not through bored through the tang stub but the piece behind the braze is through drilled and fully tapped . The spring assembly mounted there rests against a solid section at the back. It may have been the easiest way to construct. Brazing was a common procedure in their factory, given the several barrel/breech techniques used for their guns (see the latest book on the Ideal). Also, they were a huge maker of every style of bicycle, so their brazing techniques would have been first rate.

As to the crack, the stock alignment seems to depend on the round rear if the tang and the fact that the entire rear of the action is curved in 3 dimensions. The actual tang section is parallel, so I don't believe recoil would cause a crack near the front of the stock where it did. If the heading was inprecise, I think it would crack at the back. The crack itself is only a little over a quarter inch on the surface and tapers out into the tang inlet. I suspect the crack was caused by dropping or sideways pressure. It is at the very thinnist part of the wrist wood, and couldn't possibly have put enough pressure or force to crack or break the tang without completely breaking or smashing the stock. The tang threaded reciever is a roughly 7/16" diameter metal fixture.

I did not realize Keith had dubbed it a "cocking dog", but I agree. My vague understanding of the term "dog' is that it is used of a part that swivels as it does it's job.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

AGS, your explanation of the brazing makes perfect sense to me, but the braze itself does not look to be factory quality work. I have done a lot of brazing on my farm over the course of 50 years, and I can do much better looking work than that. it appears to me that the welder did not get the parts quite hot enough for the braze to "flow" properly. But, that's just the opinion of someone who can't see the piece in person, and knows nothing about French gun manufacturing.

Cool gun.

Two Piper and his machine shop expertise is missed. Just a comment remembering him at Christmas because you all know you stuff too.

Salut Argo,

Ce poinçon sur le fusil est spécifique à la Manufacture Modèle, filiale de vente de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint Etienne.

Il a dû se produire un souci lors du marquage des poinçons d'épreuve. D'ailleurs, il n'est pas complet.

Pour résumer, de 1923 à 1927, les armes MF ainsi que MM ont les mêmes poinçons d'épreuve.
A partir de 1928, les armes MM ont des nouveaux poinçons comme sur la photo.

Le numéro de modèle n'étant pas inscrit sur ce fusil, on ne peut faire que des suppositions.
Je pense à un 8E antérieur à 1931 ou à un 44 postérieure à 1930.
D'ailleurs le nombre 44 est inscrit sur la crosse au niveau de la plaque de couche.

Comme toi, je pense qu'on peut dire que la pièce 17 est une gâchette d'armement.