Sorry for my late response, I had been away. Curt, thank you, I actually like to think of it as a French fowler, and that will be no problem! Don, I did not have to pay any customs or any extra fees other than the base shipping plus my upgraded box, which was a lot cheaper than I had expected anyhow. I highly recommend if you are considering them.
My fusil arrived safe and sound ( by a local private courier for those above ), packed very well, and is a helluva lot more beautiful than the first pictures could show, nice deep brown stain, gives a real nice curling look in the buttstock. All the inletting is top notch, real tight. I inspected it over and took the lock off, everything looks great and works great too. Lock is real quick with a short stroke, I like it. I was very surprised at how light it was for a 46" barrel too, it swings & shoulders very nicely, super happy with it, truly an awesome firearm. My gelinotte tueur, grouse slayer :haha:
Luckily my range rod and supplies came before the gun arrived, there had been the tiniest film of surface rust just inside the muzzle. By the looks of it, it was most definitely condensation, we had temps swinging from -15 to +20 Celsius, so I was expecting it. An old tooth brush and some Barricade and it was gone in no time. I swabbed a few patches down the bore looking for any more rust, fortunately there was none. I cleaned and oiled the entire gun and lock inside and out, as I wasn't fond of the transmission fluid that came with, though it did do its job for the most part. I took the advice given by those on the forum and put a patch with Barricade down the bore, let sit to dry, then some Rig Grease. That should hold me over until I get everything to shoot, when the weather is warmer and I get a new camera. I'll give you all my first range report and lots of pics, I'm looking forward to it and sharing with you folks, you've all been so helpful and kind. :grin:
Thanks all