French firearms manufacturer Verney-Carron is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the company’s creation. Established in 1820 in Saint-Etienne by spouses Claude Verney and Antoinette Carron, the company since operated uninterruptedly remaining a family-owned business managed by six generations of the Verney-Carron family. This fact makes it the oldest existing firearm manufacturer in France.

Claude Verney and Antoinette Carron

In a joint message published on the first page of the company’s “200 Years Special Edition” catalog, the CEO Jean Verney-Carron and Managing Director Guillaume Verney-Carron said:

We are extremely proud to have actively contributed, for two centuries, to enriching
the natural and cultural heritage of hunting. Thus, as we mark this emblematic
anniversary, we state with conviction that Verney-Carron’s mission is “to bring
the very best of French creation to every hunter and nature lover in the world”.
Consequently, it is in the service of this mission that we have decided to group
all our ranges of hunting-related creations under one name, Verney-Carron:
from mass-produced products meeting a broad array of needs to the very finest
handmade bespoke guns.

In the commemoration of the 200th anniversary, the company will release 200 limited-edition rifles and shotguns. The limited-edition guns will include 8 models of Verney-Carron firearms such as the Sagittaire series of Over & Under shotguns and rifles as well as Speedline and Impact NT repeating rifles. As seen in the above-embedded image, the barrels of these firearms will be numbered and marked with “VERNEY-CARRON CRÉATEUR DEPUIS 200 ANS” inscription. The Verney-Carron bicentennial guns will also have commemorative “200 Ans” pistol grip caps as seen below. These limited edition firearms will be shipped with certificates of authenticity and some of the models will come with “200 Ans” knives.

You can read the more detailed story of the company’s creation and learn about their achievements by downloading the “200 Years Special Edition” catalog.

Images by Verney-Carron (www.verney-carron.com)