Identifying Belgian Made Firearms

[scatman]

Alright, my family has passed a few of these around the generations and recently my dad got curious as to what exactly he had in his safe and took them to a specialist/appraiser, to his dismay he learned that what he had was meant for black powder, but also found that he was sitting on some nice pieces of history worth quite a bit to collectors. Even more recently I came upon one which lead me to do some research on my own, and realized, our community could use this information! I'm going to try and compress this as much as possible, but there's a lot of information to digest around these. First a simple link to help identify proof marks to help one try and determine dates.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.hunting.be/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Belgian-Proof-Marks.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj9wOrvwJX4AhUBt4QIHYTTCr8QFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1LS3bqxZxT9BNAKeqiIw5N

In there you can decipher your way through the various changes of marks used over the years. A few very KEY names or inscriptions to look out for: Francotte, Frall, Jennsenn. These have been noted as usually higher end quality and there's some going on auction anywhere from 1k to 10k depending on the grade.

As we all know Winchester changed ownership a lot of times over the years, what some might not know is there was a short period when they were owned by Western Cartidge Co. (The inventor of the Super X shotshell) and said parent company would send their designs to and buy arms from FN Herstal in Belgium and export them to the US market in the early 30's.

Now, if you're wondering to yourself, it's been proofed for smokeless powder, I can use modern ammo, right? STOP. DON'T. Most firearms from this era and region were made with Damascus and can't handle the pressure of modern ammunition. Take it to a qualified gunsmith, preferably one with knowledge of vintage arms/Damascus barrels. They can tell you if you're firearm is safe to use, and can probably recommend a safe ammunition. IF YOU DON'T TAKE IT TO A GUNSMITH FOR INSPECTION PRIOR TO USE, YOU RUN THE RISK OF SERIOUSLY HARMING YOURSELF. No, I'm not speaking from personal experience, but I've seen what happens when a catastrophic failure of a firearm occurs. 

[scatman]

Note: I didn't post this in the Relics page due to the fact that depending on year it will handle modern ammunition with no problems at all. Also if you have any questions or need help deciphering your markings, please PM me.

Edited June 5, 2022 by scatman
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