Gastinne Renette Lefaucheux

V

Valentin

Inactive
Hi all! My name is Valentin, I live in Austria and on my search for information on my gun, I found this forum. I hope this is the right forum for that.

To describe the shotgun with a few words: It is a 19th century, Lefaucheux-system, double damascus steel barrel shotgun. 16ga. bore. The hammers are blued, the barrels have a tobacco colored plating. On top, between the barrels, it reads "Gastinne Renette arq. de l'Empereur a Paris. Brevet Westley Richards". Brevet Westley Richards is French for "Westley Richards patented". Below, a few pictures. I am interested in any information on this gun and an estimated value. Should I have it restored? It is in good overall conditon, so maybe it is not necessary and affects the value?

k1024003.jpg


k1024002.jpg


k1024006.jpg


k1024004.jpg


Thanks,
Valentin
 
Those barrels are not plated they are 'browned' . Both browning and bluing were common in those days. I wouldn't touch the gun as it's in very good condition and changes would reduce the value. Very nice piece !!
 
Thank you mete for your reply. Sorry for my mistake, my mother tongue is German so I didn't know the correct English word for the browned barrels. Thanks for correction. I think I won't change anything. I was already told from more people to leave it like it is.

Valentin
 
Welcome, Valentin.

I believe this is what's called a pinfire system. An early attempt at breechloading, French pinfires were made in the 1850s up to about 1890 or so.

The ammo had a pin sticking out that when struck by the hammer, ignited an internal cap,which then ignited the powder.

The system fell out of favor largely because the shells could fire if dropped.

Between the unlikely chance of finding ammo and the Damascus barrels, this is an artifact but not a shooter.

Too bad. It looks like it would point well and has graceful lines. A quality arm when new.

Hope this helps......
 
Thank you, Dave. This pinfire system is known as Lefaucheux system in German I think. I didn't plan to shoot it. For that purpose, I have my Merkels :) .
 
You're welcome, Valentin. LeFaucheux invented the pinfire system and some other stuff also.

Merkels? Lucky you....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top