Somewhat cross-posted from the shotgun thread. I picked this up at the same auction Mawkie got his Radom trainer from. It has some issues that need to be addressed in terms of wood (nearly cracked-through wrist) but otherwise, she's fully functional from a mechanical stand-point and beautifully engraved on the lock fences. Plans are to reinforce the wrist internally with acraglas and either threaded rod or dowel (depending on how much it needs) and acragals the crack from the exterior via syringe to close up any external gaps. There's another crack on the forend, but I think I actually found a replacement, but need more photos of the example to make sure it matches the engraving and checkering of my gun.
The bores are pitted, especially around the forcing cones, but the pitting is shallow (though broad) so I expect lengthening the forcing cones will remove most of the pitting while also providing for slightly better shot patterning. This particular gun is chambered for 65mm (2.5") shells and I plan to keep it that way.
Overall, I'm happy about the price and it's taken me down another rabbit hole I'd not thought of before. French shotguns, especially French Anson & Deeley-type boxlocks, don't have much in the way of English-language literature written about them, so I have a feeling I'll spend some time on Google Translate and trying to remember my four years of French from high school for the next several weeks while I post pictures on French hunting forums to see what other info I can glean.
Without further adieu, pics:
The last three show the extent of wood damage, nothing that isn't fixable with reasonable skill or money. It also needs a new horn buttplate, but that's inexpensive and something I can replicate myself.
Looking forward to fixing it up and hunting with it.
The bores are pitted, especially around the forcing cones, but the pitting is shallow (though broad) so I expect lengthening the forcing cones will remove most of the pitting while also providing for slightly better shot patterning. This particular gun is chambered for 65mm (2.5") shells and I plan to keep it that way.
Overall, I'm happy about the price and it's taken me down another rabbit hole I'd not thought of before. French shotguns, especially French Anson & Deeley-type boxlocks, don't have much in the way of English-language literature written about them, so I have a feeling I'll spend some time on Google Translate and trying to remember my four years of French from high school for the next several weeks while I post pictures on French hunting forums to see what other info I can glean.
Without further adieu, pics:
The last three show the extent of wood damage, nothing that isn't fixable with reasonable skill or money. It also needs a new horn buttplate, but that's inexpensive and something I can replicate myself.
Looking forward to fixing it up and hunting with it.