Stevens can't be blamed for wanting to cash in on such a market. in Britain and there was a lucrative market for rifle sales. Small Bore rifle shooting was really at it's zenith around the end of the first decade of the 20th.C. 22' Long cartridge and fitting the 40 grain bullet from the. 22' Long Rifle cartridge was developed by Stevens in 1887 by taking the case from the. 22 Long Rifle cartridge was well established by the time this rifle was advertised, the advert stated that it was being chambered for a specific. I think we have all seen firearms advertised in advance of production that differed somewhat from the original description when it was marketed. The small bore target rifle market in Britain in the early 1900's was a very competative business and anything that reduced the cost of producing the rifle without effecting its accuracy would be siezed upon by the manufacturer. It's more likely perhaps that a round barrel was standard, as they are size for size cheaper to produce than octagonal or half and half designs. It is possibly a newer (since 1955) Francotte imported by AF.I think it is unlikely that the barrel is a replacement, it's hardly likely that anyone would go to the trouble of having a roll die made to replicate the original 'factory' markings. So I think this may explain the serial number difference and the AF and crown in oval proof marks.

Francotte continued to manufacture sidelock guns with serial numbers in the high 80,000 and low 90,000 serial range but these were not imported by A&F and do not appear in the A&F record books.Ī&F imported a large number of Over/Under shotguns that, while they are not stamped with the Francotte name, do have the maker’s mark ‘AF’ in an oval and topped by a crown among the proof marks. The number of Francotte’s imported picked up again after the war until the 1960’s when the sale of Francotte’s began to be overtaken by the A&F Zoli-Rizzini’s. ' One interesting note – in June 1955 the A&F Francotte serial numbers, which had reached up into the 90,000’s, started over with number 1001 – a Knockabout gun. I read a little farther along in the Double Gun thread (some of it got cut off when attached here) and I found the following: Additionally the AF with crown in oval shows up on the receiver. I am definitely not an expert on Francotte, but I did notice the AF with crown marks on both of the barrels on the distal end of the barrel flats.

David francotte