I've got a 16ga sxs with a proof date of 1917. If the safety is in the rear position, both triggers are locked. If you push the safety up one notch to the intermediate position, you can only pull the rear trigger, front is locked. On pulling the rear trigger, the safety jumps up to the forward position and you can then pull the front trigger.

If you push the safety all the way forward to start with, it operates a normal safety, both triggers are unlocked and you can fire the barrels in any order. It's not an auto safety btw.

I never saw this before, but it seems to be selective triggers.
Mike

Don't know if I'd call it selective. In the rear position and the forward position it operates as a normal safety.

In the intermediate position you must fire the rear trigger first, the front trigger is locked and remains locked until you pull the rear trigger, the safety then physically jumps to the forward position allowing you to pull the front trigger.

Seems like it would be appropriate for driven game since you would be shooting more distant targets first with the left barrel and then closer targets with the right barrel.

Gun is a trigger plate action btw.

What origin is the gun please?

Cheers,
Gunwolf

On the top rib, Rippberger, Weissenfels, A/SA. Bohler Blitzstahl barrels. No serial number, date code 1017 on the barrel flats, underneath the date code is the number '67'. Typical German proofs, U,W,S. The word 'Nitro' is stamped on the barrels in script, not block letters.

On the bottom of the barrels is stamped a very small man with a staff or club which looks like it could be the Sauer 'wildman' trademark, but again the stamp is very small.

And the gun is truly safe for the front trigger in the middle position?

Is you spelling correct? There was a Ripperger in a 1926-27 Adressbook:

Ripperger, R,, Waffenmstr. Weißenfels, Bergstr, 21. [Ki.]

http://forum.ahnenforschung.net/showthread.php?t=17452

Waffenmeister means Gunmaster.

Cheers,
Gunwolf

I think it must be the same person, just a slight misspelling in the address book. Thanks for the research.

Is there any position of the safety where both barrels fire when one pulls only one trigger? There are some waterfowl guns out there which will fire both barrels on one trigger pull if the shooter pulls one (I think it's usually the rear) trigger first.
I'll speculate this might be such a gun but with sort of a belt-and-suspenders system for choosing one, the other, or both barrels.
--

This is reminiscent of the fore-and-aft safety/selector combination on some early Miller single triggers.... As far as I'm concerned, a safe-handling nightmare....

Nope. As stated, Forward (normal) position, you can fire barrels normally. Rear position, Safe. Middle, you can only fire the left barrel, safety snaps forward simultaneously with the fall of the left hammer. There is a definite detent in the middle, but you can push through it easily to move the safety to the forward position.

A one-off request by a customer no doubt. Gun has a proof date of 1917 and with over-care by previous owners not being an issue, I'm a little amazed the safety works so well.