french shotgun ??

wayne walsh · February 8, 2009, 07:55 PM

I have shotgun but know nothing about it, there are engravings on most of the metal parts of the gun except the barrels. Near the hammers on each side is a engraving of what looks like a fly with the letters D on one wing, and on the other wing is the letter L, on the underside of the barrel it says NON POUR BALLE 17.4 in french I am not sure about the 4. On the other barrel it says 17.8 It has damascus barrels with a circle with the leters ELG and a star inside the circle. The stock has a small amount of checkering on it near the front.
can anyone help me here, and is it worth anything?
THANKS

PetahW · February 8, 2009, 09:06 PM

'NON POUR BALLE ' means "not for ball", aka "not for slugs", and is a pretty common marking on older, tightly choked guns, made for shot & wingshooting.

YMMV, but for me, an old damascus hammer gun is a wallhanger only, and that's what I value them as.

.

SDC · February 8, 2009, 09:42 PM

The "ELG" in a circle is an older Belgian proofmark, and French is one of the official languages of Belgium; as said above, this gun should really never be fired again, but would probably make a nice wall-hanger.

J F Cooper · February 12, 2009, 03:31 PM

A lot of Belgian guns with Damascus Barrels can be safely fired with the proper Ammo. Only one who is thoroughly knowledgeable of Damascus barrels should make the deision as to their safety..JFC

February 8, 2009, 07:55 PM	#1
wayne walsh Junior Member Join Date: February 8, 2009 Posts: 1	french shotgun ?? I have shotgun but know nothing about it, there are engravings on most of the metal parts of the gun except the barrels. Near the hammers on each side is a engraving of what looks like a fly with the letters D on one wing, and on the other wing is the letter L, on the underside of the barrel it says NON POUR BALLE 17.4 in french I am not sure about the 4. On the other barrel it says 17.8 It has damascus barrels with a circle with the leters ELG and a star inside the circle. The stock has a small amount of checkering on it near the front. can anyone help me here, and is it worth anything? THANKS

February 8, 2009, 09:42 PM	#3
SDC Senior Member Join Date: January 23, 2001 Location: People's Republic of Kanada Posts: 1,652	The "ELG" in a circle is an older Belgian proofmark, and French is one of the official languages of Belgium; as said above, this gun should really never be fired again, but would probably make a nice wall-hanger. __________________ Gun control in Canada: making the streets safer for rapists, muggers, and other violent criminals since 1936.

February 8, 2009, 09:06 PM	#2
PetahW Senior Member Join Date: September 19, 2008 Posts: 4,678	'NON POUR BALLE ' means "not for ball", aka "not for slugs", and is a pretty common marking on older, tightly choked guns, made for shot & wingshooting. YMMV, but for me, an old damascus hammer gun is a wallhanger only, and that's what I value them as. .

February 12, 2009, 03:31 PM	#4
J F Cooper Senior Member Join Date: October 18, 2007 Location: Southern Ohio Posts: 125	A lot of Belgian guns with Damascus Barrels can be safely fired with the proper Ammo. Only one who is thoroughly knowledgeable of Damascus barrels should make the deision as to their safety..JFC