yes jim, i have to agree that the gun may have been made nearly 70 yrs. ago and records are not very avaible. but just maybe, somewhere in france the records do exist for this gun. it would be interesting to find its orgins and perhaps any value. its a fine gun and never failed my father whom used it for bird hunting up to the mid 1980' s . by the way, i was wondering if dr. smith is a english professor at harvard or yale .