New (to me) Toy
 

It is always fun to get a new gun but especially when you have been cooped up at home for a few months as we all have. I just received a 1937 12 Gauge A&E Francotte 14E. The gun was purchased from a fellow PGCA member and I could not be happier with it. It came with a Griffin & Howe research letter by Bob Beach. Upon receipt of the gun I took it to Scott K' where he measured the bores and chokes. All match the letter. We then patterned it at 40 yards and it patterned as it should according to Scott, who is the expert in this. The gun has 26" barrels choked IC/M and weighs an incredible 5Lb 15 oz. Thin at the wrist and feels like a light 20 gauge not a 12. To some this may be to light and short barreled but It will be perfect for me chasing Grouse and Woodcock in the alder swamps of northern NH. Just a beautiful original gun. Thanks Jim for a great transaction and Scott.:bigbye:

Let me be the first to say we need pics!! You really should have known!

That is beautiful, the grouse and woodcock are in for it. Good luck.

If I can hit them, LOL:whistle:

I have always appreciated the Francotte guns and that’s a nice one.





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Glad you are enjoying it like I did for years, just don’t forget to take a picture of your first bird and send it to me

Well if you can’t hit them you’ll at least look good. Handsome gun, you’ll also need to bring it to Ernie’s I want to see it.

Let's see if I have this right: short barrels, open chokes, short shot strings, light weight, nice condition, venerable maker -- what's not to love about this gun?!

Very nice Steve. A friend of mine sold all his Parkers and Foxes, and replaced them with vintage Charles Daly and Francotte 12gauges. They are all sub 6 lb guns, amazing how light they are. Of course, I would not want to shoot a couple hundred rounds of sporting clays with them. 7/8 oz loads will shoot quite comfortably in that gun, and be great on grouse and woodcock. Looking forward to seeing it.

My little Francotte 28 gauge weighs 4 pounds, 12 ounces, cannot be comfortably shot with USA made skeet loads. I loaded 9/16 ounce loads for it, but then Morris Baker came up with light 2 1/2" loads that did not recoil much at all. The gun was minty, nearly unfired, so I couldn't carry it in the field. I made a hasty decision to sell it at the last shoot at Ernie's.