So, I picked up what was mislabeled as an "English" SxS at auction the other day. When I got home and pulled the forend off to look at the flats for proofs to figure out if it was a Birmingham Box Lock Non-Ejector like I had hoped, I found that the language on the flats was not English, but French, and the proofs of St. Etienne.
From what I can gather, it's French-made (there are no importation marks which were required at the time for anything coming from Belgium or elsewhere) and post 1923 but likely pre-WWII. It is proofed for smokeless powder and chambered for 12ga 2-1/2" shells which is common of European guns of the time. The chokes on both barrels are the equivalent of "Improved Cylinder" and the person who finished the choking and chambering of the barrels had the initials of E.M. Every single screw head is engraved and the engraving of holly leaves and berries on the lock fences is quite well done and rather detailed. The butt plate appears to be made of black bone and shows signs of some heavy insect damage at the heel. The forend has a significant crack (though it doesn't appear to be unstable) and a large chip missing from the left side where the forend meets the barrels. The most unfortunate thing is that the wrist is nearly cracked through (this was not mentioned nor apparent from the poor quality of the auction pictures). And the barrels are definitely pitted though the pitting is not deep and mainly restricted to the forcing cones. Mechanically the shotgun is in fantastic shape as it is on-face and has a tight lockup. Both firing pins strike my snap-caps hard enough to punch through cardstock placed over the dummy primers. The safety works and it recocks without needing to push the barrels forward with much force. I'm hoping to save it with a good cleaning, some minor restoration work, and possibly having the forcing cones lengthened to get rid of some of the more egregious of the pitting.
Interestingly enough, when cleaning the bores, some extremely old waxed paper was removed from some of the pits and the forcing cones where it had been fired last some time ago. It obviously was put away without being cleaned.
Anyone with any leads about a manufacturer would be appreciated.
Here are the shots:
From what I can gather, it's French-made (there are no importation marks which were required at the time for anything coming from Belgium or elsewhere) and post 1923 but likely pre-WWII. It is proofed for smokeless powder and chambered for 12ga 2-1/2" shells which is common of European guns of the time. The chokes on both barrels are the equivalent of "Improved Cylinder" and the person who finished the choking and chambering of the barrels had the initials of E.M. Every single screw head is engraved and the engraving of holly leaves and berries on the lock fences is quite well done and rather detailed. The butt plate appears to be made of black bone and shows signs of some heavy insect damage at the heel. The forend has a significant crack (though it doesn't appear to be unstable) and a large chip missing from the left side where the forend meets the barrels. The most unfortunate thing is that the wrist is nearly cracked through (this was not mentioned nor apparent from the poor quality of the auction pictures). And the barrels are definitely pitted though the pitting is not deep and mainly restricted to the forcing cones. Mechanically the shotgun is in fantastic shape as it is on-face and has a tight lockup. Both firing pins strike my snap-caps hard enough to punch through cardstock placed over the dummy primers. The safety works and it recocks without needing to push the barrels forward with much force. I'm hoping to save it with a good cleaning, some minor restoration work, and possibly having the forcing cones lengthened to get rid of some of the more egregious of the pitting.
Interestingly enough, when cleaning the bores, some extremely old waxed paper was removed from some of the pits and the forcing cones where it had been fired last some time ago. It obviously was put away without being cleaned.
Anyone with any leads about a manufacturer would be appreciated.
Here are the shots:
