Despite laws against dueling as early as 1626 in France, dueling with both swords and pistols remained a tradition among military officers and gentlemen for nearly three additional centuries. As late as at least 1900, lethal pistol duels are documented in Paris. Rifled bores were the norm in France and most of continental Europe in the 19th century, especially as rifling was more widely adopted on firearms in general. The Gastinne-Renette families were joined by the marriage of Louis-Julien Gastinne and Joséphine Adèle Renette, son and daughter of the founders of the firm. The shop was a nexus of Parisian dueling culture and rented and sold cased sets like this and even trained duelists. Sometimes both duelists visited their shop on the eve of their potentially deadly exchange to brush up their marksmanship skills. The barrels have fine post front sights, "FNI. P. GASTINNE RENETTE A PARIS" on top, and "3" on the bottoms. Fixed u-notch rear sights are at the breech on the upper tang. The metal components other than the barrels and silver wedge plates have matching floral scroll engraving and are finished in French gray. The stock have fine figure, elegant intertwining floral scroll carving in relief, and fluted grips. The pair comes in a veneered, highly figured walnut case with French fitted interior, "GASTINNE-RENETTE/A PARIS" in gilt letters inside the lid, a cleaning rod, ramrod, mallet, spot for an absent ball mold, nipple wrench (appears to be a replacement for a longer combination tool), measure, containers for caps and patches, small powder flask, and two lidded compartments containing a Remington cap tin and numerous lead balls.

As described in A.