My game gun,65 years old and aging beautifully.

[drone]

I bought this gun from the gent who had it built, it was made with a shorter pull as befits a gun that spent much of its time out in the winter polishing the right shoulder of a barbour waxed jacket.
I think it's true to say that at the time he needed cash pdq and I didn't pay a lot for it. I bought it because it's extremely light in weight, just over 6 pounds iirc and I took it out on many wildfowling forays on the wash and points north as a companion to my Tolley when the sling became extremely useful, it's also true to say I shot many more birds with it on the average day than I shot in a month with the Tolley.
When the steel shot saga emerged I emailed Fusils Darne about the suitability of using steel shot in it, the answer was positive. I have yet to shoot any steel shot down the tubes.
Alas Darne appears to be no more, but the price list back about 6 or 7 years listed the gun, a V-19 model, at 18000 euros, I was totally gobsmacked as I'd not really treated it that well.
Both barrels were improved cylinder, with the left being slightly more improved than the right with 5 points of choke or thereabouts. This didn't seem to restrict it in any way and it could always pull off quite long shots.
I don't think I've been out with it more than a handful of times in the last 10 years which is sad really.
In the late 80s or early 90s I took it to Greenfields in Canterbury to have the chequering refreshed and the oil finish buffed up and generally serviced, £75worth iirc.
Hopefully, one of my sons or grandson will get to enjoy it before it morphs into an assault gun.

[drone]

[Blackstuff]

Nice looking piece and interesting looking action, never seen one open like that before

[dromia]

I love they Darne, they also made machine guns.

I acquired my current example from a certain SimG of this parish.

[billgatese30]

Fascinating action. Never seen one like that before.

[Graham M]

They had a write up in one of the shooting magazines a few years ago about one of these. Can't remember if it was done to get around a patent.

[meles meles]

We have one of these too, and it's definitely a novelty that attracts attention either in the field or at the clay ground. The action was based upon Whitworth's sliding breech mechanism used on pre-dreadnaught battelship guns.

The only snag is that one can't immediately discern that the gun is safe as, even when empty, the barrels don't break. We're often (politely) asked at the clay ground to carry it with the barrels broken open to show it is safe, and there then ensues a long conversation as we explain how it works and the enquirer has a go or two with it....

[Blackstuff]

Does it eject the cases when you open it/they're held in the breach closed position while the action opens so they just bobble off the sides, or is it manual extraction?

[drone]

Here's an image of the breech block faces, the two "ejector" pins are clearly visible. I can never recall having an issue with the process of dumping used cases, similarly I can't remember how it does it.
I, to paraphrase Oddball in Kelly's Heroes, merely shoot the thing.

[Graham M]

Oh, man. I only ride them, I don't know what makes them work.