Genuine?

[Professor Mawla]

Good evening gentlemen ,

A student of mine recently came across a 12 bore double barreled side shotgun box-lock ejector shotgun , which is marked “ Fabrique National D Arms “ on the rib . Here is a photograph .

To me , the weapon does not seem to be an original Browning shotgun . Because if it was , then it would be engraved “ Fabrique Nationale De Armes “ . Whoever built these barrels , clearly was not from Belgium and they used the incorrect spelling . I would be interested to hear the insight of other , more knowledgeable gentlemen on this subject .

With very best wishes ,

Anayeth

 

[WAB]

I share your suspicion. It will be very interesting to see what some of the more knowledgeable members have to say!

 

[Red Leg]

From the last half of the 19th century up until WWII, Belgium had a huge secondary gun production market that built cheaply made and priced doubles for the international market. They were typically of poor fit and finish, and rarely held up to extended use. During the early part of the last century, they were common in hardware stores across the US under a variety of both legitimate and barely disguised names. Many thousands were shipped to the various colonial markets, and you can find them hanging over fireplaces from Pretoria to Dahka.

For obvious reasons, the Westley Richards trademark is one of those most often seen counterfeited. One can almost not go to a gun show in this country without seeing at least one beat to hell old double with "W Richards" on the rib (sometimes priced by an ignorant or even untruthful seller as an English gun). Another that was often abused was the FN trademark.

Your suspicions were spot on. Caveat emptor

 

[Nyati]

Correct spelling should be Fabrique Nationale D´Armes de Guerre

However, it is known as Fabrique Nationale D´Herstal, Fabrique Nationale, or FN Herstal.

 

[John Telford]

The words “special quality” sound like an Indian phrase rather than a Flemish phrase ......

 

[Professor Mawla]

I share your suspicion. It will be very interesting to see what some of the more knowledgeable members have to say!

@WAB
Great minds think alike .

 

[Professor Mawla]

From the last half of the 19th century up until WWII, Belgium had a huge secondary gun production market that built cheaply made and priced doubles for the international market. They were typically of poor fit and finish, and rarely held up to extended use. During the early part of the last century, they were common in hardware stores across the US under a variety of both legitimate and barely disguised names. Many thousands were shipped to the various colonial markets, and you can find them hanging over fireplaces from Pretoria to Dahka.

For obvious reasons, the Westley Richards trademark is one of those most often seen counterfeited. One can almost not go to a gun show in this country without seeing at least one beat to hell old double with "W Richards" on the rib (sometimes priced by an ignorant or even untruthful seller as an English gun). Another that was often abused was the FN trademark.

Your suspicions were spot on. Caveat emptor

@Red Leg Sir ,

Thank you very much for such an educational assessment , as well as confirming my suspicions . The only genuine Belgian side by side shotguns which were imported into East Bengal , were all retailed by R.B. Rodda & Co , when we were still a part of British India . These were manufactured by Raick Freres . Most were side-lock non ejector shotguns with exposed re-bounding hammers and 32 inch barrels ( a fully choked left barrel and a modified choked right barrel ) . A few were hammerless box-lock ejector shotguns with 30 inch barrels ( a fully choked left barrel and a modified choked right barrel ) .

On a related subject , was there not an actual London based gun maker by the name of W Richards ? They obviously were not Westley Richards ( who are based in Birmingham ) . But there are countless colonial era English side by side shotguns in our local arms shops , which are marked “ W Richards London “ .

 

[Professor Mawla]

Correct spelling should be Fabrique Nationale D´Armes de Guerre

However, it is known as Fabrique Nationale D´Herstal, Fabrique Nationale, or FN Herstal.

@Nyati
Thank you very much . I thought so , myself .

 

[Professor Mawla]

The words “special quality” sound like an Indian phrase rather than a Flemish phrase ......

@John Telford
Your suspicions are extremely valid . Indians are notorious for producing countless pot metal grade inferior arms ( especially double barreled side by side shotguns ) , with all sorts of fancy names . Countless of these were imported into East Pakistan , prior to 1965 . Many an unsuspecting purchaser has been tricked into purchasing one of these inferior shotguns ; thinking that they were purchasing a fine colonial era English or Belgian or German weapon .