doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Damon-St. Étienne

Wow!! Merci FAB. Chaos, rioting, looting, disfunction, anarchy, war. . . .and now google takes over!!! My job here is done. Gene

Thank you, Fab500.


How many of you own a Damon-Petrik?

This is going to be a short list….

Best,
Ted

I know you’re right! 😂.
I called Geoffroy today and he gave me the news on take down, maintenance , etc. He very enthusiastic and happy to hear someone else owns one!

Dustin

Settle back down, bro. Did you happen to read Googles translation?

I thought my French sucked.


I mean, the Google thing is better than nothing, but, it ain’t there, just yet.

Best,
Ted

Ok, thought everyone was satisfied. I'll give a human interpretation...it won't be literal but will be understandable.

Surperb and astonishing French O/U

Damon-Petrik
The Unknown

Damon-Petrik…This name is at once one of the best known French gunmakers and the most unknown. The O/U guns produced by this gunmaker, reconizable by there tile lock crowning the barrels, are familiar to just about everyone, but we are all ignorant of their history. It is time to ift the curtain.

When I discovered on the pages of this magazine a reader’s letter entitled “A Petrik without Damon,” over a year ago (in “Hunting Guns” nr. 70), I said to myself that this was my homework to send to this reader the most precise information in my possession. For several years I have been passionate about this mark, such that it led me to become interested in its history and to shed light on poorly known aspects and bring to light a lot of assumptions and even inaccuracies. Because let’s admit that the brand has not always been treated fairly in works devoted to hunting. Thus, Pierre Louis Duchartre, in his “History of Hunting Arms and Their Use”, published in 1955, only talks of lateral locks of the Francotte type without a word for the tiled lock of Petrik. Then, closer to home in 1990, Dominique Venner called it “a fabrication of the post WWII era.” I am going therfore to try to reconstruct here the history, the true history, of this firm. Boniface Petrik is not of Swedish origin but Czeck. He was born 5 May 1880 in Temice, a small village of Moravia, before being naturalized as a French citizen in 1926. Neither was he an engineer, but was rather a gun maker and owned a gunshop in Paris up until he decided, probably around 1910, to move to Bayonne.

A Present for his Wife:

Petrik chose the great south-west in order for his wife to engage in her favorite sport, live-pigeon shots. The seaside village of Biarritz was then run by fine shooters, of which Madame Petrick was one, a tough competitor whose name can be found frequently as medalist in the live pigeon competitions of that period.

Her gunmaker husband thought that an O/U shotgun could be easier for her to aim, and subsequently for all sport shooters. It had been more than 100 years with no O/U hammerless action gun capable of competing with the SxS’s then in Europe – the several O/U's made since the beginning of the 18th century not being able to make the weight.

Boniface followed up on his idea and got to work, and quickly ran into his first difficulties; How to lock the upper barrel? With what types of lumps (or hooks)? And how to insure percussion, difficult to do using only oblique firing pins?

If the final gun born from this research is now well known and has been seriously describe by specialists, one completely ignores the two prototypes that the gunmaker fabricated for his wife. One can all the same suppose that the first Damon models were very close to being made. They had a conical tile closing system – of increible precision which brings the point of attachment close to the source of force – two lateral hooks and barrels without an intermediate band, which elimiated lateral vibrations.

In 1913, Jean Breuil was 37 years old and a known barrel maker in Saint-Etienne. He already had a great deal of experience; at the age of 13, he became an apprentice; he forged damascus barrels when he was 17 and passed with success the examinations for obtaining the title of “artisan,” on his majority at the age of 21 during this time period. Madame Petrik, who in addition to being a fine markswoman, was quite knowledgeable about weapons technique. She used Breuil barrels and according to the press, he was quite proud to offer his barrels to the famous lady. Later on, Damon made actions for Jean Breuil, but not . .

. . .missing page 103

You guys that own Remington model 32s now know who to thank.

Best,
Ted

FAB, it appears we're missing page 103 and probably 105.
FAB il me semble que nous manque la page 103 de l'article et probablement 105.

Well I messed that grammar up:

"It seems that" (Il semble que) - second clause takes the subjunctive
"It doesn't seem that" - second clause takes the subjunctive
"It seems to me that" - second clause - no subjunctive
"It doesn't seem to me that: - second clause - subjunctive tense.

And the verb "to miss" "manquer" is reversed in French.
. . ."it is missing" = "il manque" but
. . ."I miss you" becomes "You are missed by me" (Tu me manque).

So the easiest way to say the above would be rather abruptly:
. . ."il manque les pages 103 et 105." (it is missing pages 103 and 105).

So the correct sentence would be (I think) (Manquer is the same in the subjective and the present).
. . . ."Il me semble qu'il manque la page 103 est peut être la page 105."

Now I need a drink - (Maintenant j'ai besoin d'un verre)

Google this phrase

Les Superposes Damon Petrik

It pops up a French article by Louis de Seze. It is a different article from the one above. This article is on pages 22-25.

Geoffroy Gournet gave me the info on the article. I printed out the whole article. My copy is not very clear, but readable. The last page has a good color photo of a Super France model.

I have one. It is not marked with maker or retailer. Geoffroy knew immediately what it was. I had to get lessons on taking it down. It is way different. The top latch has a small catch. The catch keeps the latch just far enough back that you lift the barrels straight up out of the receiver.

The receiver is rounded. They left metal to shape the appearance of a sidelock. Then engraved it to look like a sidelock. The false sideplates look just like a sidelock in shape. It is completely engraved. It is only after you remove the sideplates you see the boxlock. It is extremely well done.

Damon Petrik Superposed SN 35xx
Model Le SuperFrancais
12 ga, ejector, 76cm 29.9", 7lb 6oz, solid rib
65mm/70mm, heavy nitro, 2 eagles, proved for both 65 and 70. I have no idea why 2 proofs. It is not reproofed.
Top Choke .042 / MWT .033
Bottom Choke .040 / MWT .031
Double triggers, Prince of Wales style grip, 14" LOP

The chokes are a mono block sleeved into the ends of the barrels. There is a line about a half inch from the muzzle where the transition is. With a good light you can see the choke tubes go further into the barrels. An early Briley system?
The barrels are sleeved into the receiver. There is a solid rib between the upper and lower barrels. These barrels are solid.
It once had sling swivels, made for European market. I have no idea how it got to the US. There are no importer stamps.

It can be at the Southern.

I'll try to find a link to the color photo.

Joe in Charlotte