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'!