[MISFIRE]

I inherited an Acier Cockerill double barrel shotgun, twin hammers,grayish finish, straight grip, 26.5 inch barrels, checkering worn but still there,engraving, plastic butt plate appears to have HJ co. it's a fancy design difficult make clear,under the splinter forend there are several stamps, some letters such as db15 /9 49 2/choke 17.6 soldered on sling clips.
I've never heard of this brand I would appreciate any help, no one in the family knew about this shotgun.
Bill

[Jim Watson]

Acier means steel. Cockerill Sambre is the big Belgian steel company comparable to Krupp in Germany. So Acier Cockerill is the brand of steel the barrels are made of, it is not the make of gun.

HJ is more likely the monogram of the gunmaker.
Unfortunately our Belgian friends are not good about putting their names on their products. I always thought it was just to provide stuff to dealers and distributors to put their house brand on, but apparently a lot of unlabeled guns were sold in those days.

[Ron James]

As Jim posted, Acier is steel and Cockerill is as stated, however Cockerill also translates into rooster, so you have a steel rooster. I used to drive the late Joe V, crazy with that comparison.

[SDC]

Is there anything else at all on TOP of the barrels or on the rib? Most of the Belgian "Cockerill" guns I've seen have been described as "guild" guns, where individual manufacturers banded together into a sort of retail organization that sold their guns for them, but the guns themselves only bore the names of their retail organization (for example, "Manufacture Liegoise d'Armes a Feu" - "Liege (Belgium) Firearms Manufacturers").

[Jim K]

The marks on the bottom of the barrels are Belgian proof and chamber markings. They give the gauge, chamber length and choke restriction. If 17.6 is the choke, the gun is 16 gauge, and that barrel is full choke.

Jim

[MISFIRE]

Acier cockerill is stamped in large letters on the rib, everything else is under the splinter forend. Thanks very much for the information far more than i expected.
Bill