Hello All,

Well, the AD. Jansen arrived today. I am very pleasantly surprised by its overall condition. Its so "tight" that its hard to open and close. No marks what-so-ever on the recoil face which still has 100% case color. Almost all the wear (mostly on the heel) likely comes from standing in the gun cabinet with typical "show & tell" handling, and not shooting. The bores are mirror bright as new. Even the muzzle faces of both barrels are clean and "patina" bright, showing no signs of having been fired.

I was especially pleased to see the very fancy Heel and Toe plates with yhe in-between checkering.

If I had listed this this Double, I would have said "Looks Unfired" in the description.

The caliber, per chamber cast, is 500-3" BPE. The bores measured .504 and the grooves measured .524, with 8 lands and grooves. A cast of the muzzles shows about a .001 inch choke, measuring .503/.523 inches.

I can't begin to understand why the barrel was stamped "12.0" - if this was "mm" that would have been closer to 45 cal than 50 cal. Only thing I can think of is that it should have been stamped "12.8" and the stamper got it wrong.

...... "muzzle cast" ............................................................. "chamber cast"

The barrels are both marked by the maker. Best as I can make out: (its hard to read the hand-cut font)

- the right barrel is hand engraved ...... AD. Jansen Fab ant D'Armes de S.M. le Roi (see pic below)
- the left barrel is hand engraved ........ 27 Rue de la Madeleine, Bruxelles (couldn't get a clear pic)

I have no clue what any of this means, or even if I got all the letters right. If you know better, please let me know. I'd like to keep the info as accurate as possible for my records.

Oh, and there was another surprise, the serial number is "1".