Fabrique D'Arms UNIE D' leige

Ricks3006

I have a 16-GA SXS Exposed hammer with carrying strap welded to the under side of the barrel, other end is a quick disconect screwed to the buttstock. There are what looks to be a crown proof mark on each barrel, no serial numbers but there is some letters like P.V. choke 16.8 and 16-70 inside and oval. Wood looks to be Fancy Walnut with cheek piece and is also checkered. Has a FN stamped on the rivets that hold the carrying strap together. The barrels have Damascus print on them. The SXS is engraved and has a dog on each side of the receiver. Would like to know the approxment value, it has been in my family for vver 100 years. Is there a way to send you pictures of this shotgun, I have lots of pictures. Regards, Rick

Iroquois Scout

Hello Rick! You already have some information on your shotgun. You are correct in that the gun was made by FN in Leige Belgium. The crown is the government proof mark. Look carefully under the crown and see if there is a small letter"N"present. If it is there then the barrels were proofed for nitro(smokeless)powder,if however,the"N"is not present,then the barrels are for black powder only. In that oval there should be a figure that looks like a tower,this is the Leige mark. The 16.8 is the gauge in millimeters and the 16 is the choke in millimeters. The 70 is the length of the chambers in millimeters,in this case 21/2 inches which is short by American standards,but normal in Europe. Because of the short chambers do not fire American ammo in this shot gun! The letters "PV" stand for 'proved and viewed' which is a proof house mark. If this gun has true damascus twist barrels,it is another reason not to fire this gun as you can never be sure of the soundness of the welds between the twists. However,many Belgian shotguns inported into this country had solid steel barrels etched in a Damascus pattern. As to when this gun was made,it is hard to say as these guns were imported any time between 1880-1920. Most of these guns were sold through the large mail order houses like Sears. It is very hard to put a price on a gun like this as there is not much collector intrust in them. Check the various auction sites and see what similar guns are going for. Best Regards, Scout

Ricks3006

Thanks for the info on the Fabrique D' Arms;
Yes there is Nitro proof marks stamped on the Barrels, and there is a tower in the oval. The Barrels are not Damascus. I decided to check the chamber because I remember back in the early 40s that line grandfather used to bird hunt with this shotgun. Anyway,I found that the 2-1/2" chamber must have been changed at some point to 2-9/16" although there is no re-chambering proofs to indicate that it is 2-9/16 in. Is this possible?, or am I getting to old and can't read a chamber mic anymore. Anyway, I want to thank you for your information on the old relic. Regards, Rick

Iroquois Scout

Yes,it is entirely possible that the chambers were lengthened at sometime. Since the markings on the barrels were not changed,it means to me that the rechambering was done in this country. This rechambering would most likely have been done by the importer in order to make the gun more saleable. Regards, Scout