[ Unique Over/Under Shotgun ]
Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian, I am here today at the James Julia
Auction House. I'm taking a look at some of the guns
coming up for sale in their October of 2015 auction.
And this is a really weird one that I found in their
first day, their Sporting & Collectibles Auction.
Kind of the less expensive side of the auction here.
... In fact, I really don't know anything about it
beyond ... what I can tell by looking at it.
So this is marked Lefaucheux, made in Paris.
No serial number, no date.
Probably an experimental gun, or certainly a custom-built gun.
... And it has a weird operating system like I have never seen before.
Now I don't usually get into sporting shotguns, and that's exactly what this is.
But this one's weird enough that I just couldn't pass it up.
So I'm not even going to try and explain it from back there,
let me bring the camera in here, and let's take a closer look.
Alright, starting with a look at the muzzle,
we have what appears to be a pretty standard over/under double shotgun.
The grips, the forend, is a bit unusual.
Kind of like what you would see on a side-opening shotgun, which is rare, but fairly well known.
The action, however, is where this gets really quite unusual.
So what we have here are two pivoting breech blocks,
they open up like this to the side, both of them.
If I push them all the way open they lock in place.
I can also use this lever to lock the breech blocks open.
So I have procured myself a pair of 12 gauge snap caps,
so I can demonstrate how this works.
What we do, drop a shell there, push it in.
When it pushes the extractor in,
it automatically releases and closes the breech block.
Now you're ready to fire.
(And I fired both unintentionally.)
Then ... probably the proper gentleman would go ahead and use
the lever to open each of the breeches.
And there are spring-loaded extractors, although there are no ejectors.
So when the spring is stiff enough,
it will pop the shells nicely out, like that.
There we go.
Drop them out and reload.
The colouring on these is really cool, they are case-hardened, they look really neat.
Now there is actually another interesting feature here,
and that is a removable buttstock.
So if I take this button and push it forward,
the whole buttstock assembly rotates and comes off.
Of course, taking down a shotgun like this is not particularly uncommon.
In fact, it's more common than not.
But that's certainly an unusual way to go about doing it.
Lefaucheux, 37 Rue Vivienne, Paris.
This, by the way, is not a button,
that is the main hinge pin that the breech blocks pivot on.
Well, thanks for watching guys, I hope you enjoyed the video.
If you know anything more about this particular
shotgun I would love to hear from you.
If you've seen them elsewhere and know any details of it,
let me know, drop me an email, or mention something in the comments below.
Alternatively, if you'd like to simply own this yourself.
Maybe admire the mechanics, the looks,
go out and shoot it yourself, impress all of your
trap and skeet buddies with this cool, weird thing.
It is of course for sale, like everything at an auction house.
So take a look at the link in the description text below.
That'll take you to the catalogue page in Julia's catalogue on it.
You have their description, which doesn't have a ... lot more information than I have actually.
And you can take a look at their pictures.
And place a bid online, or come down here to participate live in the auction.
Thanks for watching.
So I have procured myself a pair of 12 gauge snap caps
so that I can show you exactly how this works.
That is not how it works.