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Does anyone have knowledge about Darne shotguns. They are beautiful and the action is quite a feat of engineeering.I have hand some of these but never shot or hunted one. I would enjoy any info you could share. Thanx in advance!

Here's a recent thread from DoubleGun BBS and our own expert, Terrible Ted, may add something more:
http://gunshop.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=024433

good stuff

Guest

Brian Meckler likes them and has one in 16. He is knowledgeable about them, haven't seen him post here in awhile.....where are you Brian? Want to hear about the new gun!

Mostly just to get Ted excited: weird, funny looking, French. That about says it for me.

Fin

P.S. All in fun, by the way (before the sh*t storm starts!) Very Happy

Member Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 446 Location: Wisconsin

I presently own three, a 12, 16 and a 20. the 16 was a bespoke ordered from Ted. Finest upland bird gun ever made. Light, quick and almost bullet proof. I had another 12 but sadly it was stolen. 12's weigh about 6# 4oz, 16's around 6# and 20's, 5# 10oz for the 'R' series. The 'V' series is lighter. Presently looking for a Stoeger import V19 or 'Quail Hunter Supreme' in 28 gauge. -Dick

Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

Nothing wrong with Darnes, other than the fact they're weird. Smile

Seriously, to me they have a different feel than break-open sxs. And the other problem is the location of the safety. Just a bit too kinky for me. Maybe something about an old dog and new tricks . . .

Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 265

It's true. I love Darne shotguns. In fact I own several. I have a R15 12 gauge, R-11 12 gauge a Bruchet / Darne 16 and a Charlin in 16 gauge. The Charlin is not a Darne but it does slide open like a Darne. The charlin is a story for another day however. You asked about Darnes

The Darnes come in 2 basic styles, the R or small key and the V aka large key self opener. Darnes are VERY strong shotguns and in fact the R grade guns are also made into double rifles.

Darnes come in several grades They are Helifax, R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 RHS. The V grades are also numbered. In the R grade guns they have obturator discs on the breech face starting at R-13 grade. The way to tell what grade you have is to turn the barrels over and count the Darne circles on the barrel flats. 3 circles would mean you have an R 13 5 circles means R-15.

The guns are a little longer in feel than the standard break open gun. The safety is not all that hard to operate. To shoot the guns it's like any other double gun. It has two triggers and it goes bang bang. The gun has extractors that as you open the key (top lever but in Darne language it's called a key) the shells pull out and fall to the side. It's quite handy.
Darnes are almost always bird guns. That's what they were ment to be and that's where they excell.

Paul Bruchet, Darne's old barrel maker bought the right to produce the Darne shotgun. He does a wonderful job and he only makes about 25 per year. Ted brings in about 5-10.

There is a P grade gun as well but Ted will have to come along and tell you about those. They are kind of like a V grade

Here are some pictures of my Bruchet / Darne R-13

Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

How "easy" the safety is to operate depends on the style and the location--they're not all the same--and how easily you adjust to a safety somewhere else than on the tang, like 99% of the sxs. I had a Manufrance Ideal, another somewhat unusual French shotgun, that had an "ambidextrous" safety right alongside the triggers. Little slide mechanism that could be operated from either the R or L side. Unfortunately, on safe was forward; off safe was back. In other words, just the opposite of normal safety operation. I've seen another Ideal with the same safety, but with that one, you pushed forward to take the safe off, like on a standard tang safety. That I might have been able to handle. Slide back . . . no thanks.

This thread is going on SS BB re: appropriate shells for Darne
http://bbs.shootingsportsman.com/viewtopic.php?t=31029&start=15

Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1480 Location: Mpls, MN.

Hope you didn't take too bad a beating on the Ideal, Larry-I'm pretty sure a good gunsmith can reverse that one. The safety on an R model Darne can be moved from one side of the breech block to the other, as well. If a guy is 'sorta handy, he can do it himself, in a minute or three.

As to Fin's comments, I'll say this-my money would be on Brian's shooting with his Darne.
Best,
Ted