Eclipse Company Shotguns

J

John L. Smith

New member
I am in the process of cleaning up my old Eclipse Company 12 ga. double w/hammers and am interested in finding out more about it. It was made in Belgium, has laminated steel barrels,serial # 56327 and must be a model 280? At least it has these numbers stamped all over it. It has H Pieper BU stamped on it. I have found that Henri Pieper living in Liege, Belgium started the Eclipse Company, one of many he started. I found that the E.C. Mecham Co. in St. Louis imported these guns. I got this old gun almost 50 years ago and hunted a lot with it as a kid growing up in Illinois about 100 miles north of St. Louis. A gunsmith told me it is a wall hanger. Would it be safe to shoot black power shells in it?

Anyone who can help me out i would appreciate it.
Thanks.
 
John,
Welcome to the forums. If you post a picture someone would be able to help you out. But the only real way to figure out if that gun is still shootable is to have a competent gunsmith take a look at it.

If the one gunsmith you talked to recommends not shooting it, he should have told you why.
 
While quality guns were made in Belgium, they made vast quantities of cheap guns for export. Sounds like what you have is one of the latter. Given the original quality and the age, I would think it risky to shoot. Your gunsmith gave you good advice.
 
Pieper was a respected gunmaker, but vitage guns must be evaluated on an individual basis. A gun from a top maker in bad condition is still unsafe.
 
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