Original Diana piper double barrel hammer shotgun - The Firearms Forum

amike · 05-27-2012, 05:30 PM

Hawg · 05-27-2012, 06:19 PM

Made in Belgium by Henri Pieper. It has black powder and nitro proofs so it should be safe to fire but the chambers may be short. The 12 over C in a diamond means it's a 12 gauge made during the 20th century. The Original Diana is a remake of an older model. Not a lot of collector value.

amike · 05-27-2012, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawg

Made in Belgium by Henri Pieper. It has black powder and nitro proofs so it should be safe to fire but the chambers may be short. The 12 over C in a diamond means it's a 12 gauge made during the 20th century. The Original Diana is a remake of an older model. Not a lot of collector value.

Thank you very much Hawg for you direct response.
Can you tell me what do you mean when you say...a)the chambers may be short.. , b)not a lot of collector value and c)about what decade you think it was made?
Thank you again

Hawg · 05-27-2012, 07:40 PM

The chambers may be cut for shells from 2 1/2", 2 9/16", 2 5/8" or 2 3/4". A 2 3/4 will fit fine in a 2 1/2 inch chamber but when it's fired the crimp will open up over the forcing cone raising pressure drastically. By not a lot of collector value I mean not many people would want it. You'd be lucky to get a couple of hundred for it. As to when it was made my WAG would be sometime in the 20's. but that's just a guess on my part.

RJay · 05-27-2012, 08:37 PM

For the most part the manufacturing date of older Belgium firearms is a guessing game, about the best you can do is an era. Most Belgian hammer shotguns were made prior to 1911. at that time the Belgium gun making business was stalled because the Germans decided to use Belgium for an express way to France. After 1918 the swing was to hammerless shotguns. That is not a hard and fast rule, I'm sure for a while some shotguns were made with outside hammers for the diehards. Even today outside hammer guns are being made in Spain, they are quite different from the old side hammers but some people like the visible hammers. Sometimes looking at the old catalogs can help date a gun. The Piper Family was best known for it's hand guns but they did make shotguns also,

amike · 05-28-2012, 04:59 AM

I would like to thank you both for the information. The shotgun was my grandfather's and my father's so it has priceless value for me. It is good to know the real value and it's history .
Anything else it is really nice to know.
Thank you very much.

05-27-2012, 05:30 PM	#1
amike Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 3	Original Diana piper double barrel hammer shotgun I'm interested in some information about a double barreled hammer shotgun named Original Diana. it belonged to my grandfather and it was very difficult for me to save it.Can you help me to find out about it? http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02287.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02287.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02294.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02293.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02336.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02341.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02319.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02316.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02331.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02325.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02335.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02335.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02323.jpg http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=DSC02364.jpg --> Last edited by amike; 05-27-2012 at 05:47 PM..

05-27-2012, 06:19 PM	#2
Hawg Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,583	Re: Original Diana piper double barrel hammer shotgun Made in Belgium by Henri Pieper. It has black powder and nitro proofs so it should be safe to fire but the chambers may be short. The 12 over C in a diamond means it's a 12 gauge made during the 20th century. The Original Diana is a remake of an older model. Not a lot of collector value.

05-27-2012, 07:40 PM	#4
Hawg Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,583	Re: Original Diana piper double barrel hammer shotgun The chambers may be cut for shells from 2 1/2", 2 9/16", 2 5/8" or 2 3/4". A 2 3/4 will fit fine in a 2 1/2 inch chamber but when it's fired the crimp will open up over the forcing cone raising pressure drastically. By not a lot of collector value I mean not many people would want it. You'd be lucky to get a couple of hundred for it. As to when it was made my WAG would be sometime in the 20's. but that's just a guess on my part.

05-27-2012, 08:37 PM	#5
RJay Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Arizona Posts: 3,498	Re: Original Diana piper double barrel hammer shotgun For the most part the manufacturing date of older Belgium firearms is a guessing game, about the best you can do is an era. Most Belgian hammer shotguns were made prior to 1911. at that time the Belgium gun making business was stalled because the Germans decided to use Belgium for an express way to France. After 1918 the swing was to hammerless shotguns. That is not a hard and fast rule, I'm sure for a while some shotguns were made with outside hammers for the diehards. Even today outside hammer guns are being made in Spain, they are quite different from the old side hammers but some people like the visible hammers. Sometimes looking at the old catalogs can help date a gun. The Piper Family was best known for it's hand guns but they did make shotguns also, __________________ RonJames

05-28-2012, 04:59 AM	#6
amike Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 3	Re: Original Diana piper double barrel hammer shotgun I would like to thank you both for the information. The shotgun was my grandfather's and my father's so it has priceless value for me. It is good to know the real value and it's history . Anything else it is really nice to know. Thank you very much.