I was wondering if anyone here can help me to identify what I believe to be a couple of pre-war Merkels. These two guns have been in my family for a very long time. Unfortunately the history and any information about them has been lost. Please excuse the quality of the photos and the fact that I hadn't cleaned the guns up much when I took the photos. The wood on both guns have quite a bit of sweat/body oil/dirt on them but it cleaned off nicely.
The first is a double rifle. I'm guessing the 8JR stamp on the barrels indicates 8x57JR caliber. It also has 2/31 on the barrels, that would mean it was made in Feb 1931. I noticed on this gun that the barrel serial number does not match the receiver number. I'm guessing maybe the original barrel was damaged or something and this is a replacement. I'm not to sure what the "WK" marking on the barrel is. The only thing I could guess is maybe it was an outsourced barrel made by Wilhelm Kelber. No idea what model this might be. The trigger guard appears to be made of horn. I have not been able to find any other Merkels with the same engravings on it.
The second is a drilling. This one seems to be very unusual. It appears the barrels and receiver are nickle plated. Have not seen this on any Merkels. I'm guessing the circle with a 16 in it means 16 gauge. The third barrel is 9.3x72R. There does not appear to be a serial number anywhere on this gun. The only thing that might be a serial number is the "A57" stamped on the underside of the barrels and on the receiver. This one also has the horn trigger guard. The wood on this gun is very dark. I love the pop up sight on this one. Have no idea the model number of this one either.
Any information anyone can give me would be much appreciated. The below link is for the photos.
Photoworks Pics
