doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Merkel O/U model ID and Value check

Pete:

Can you get a better spelling of the "Wolchlot??"? Also I guess I should clarify that it may be composed of pre-1945 components. Up till 1945 Adolph Schade and Ernst Merkel were at the helm and post WWII Merkel was under the the DDR/GDR nationalized conglomerate.


Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Didn't notice gauge mentioned anywhere. Price might be somewhat higher if it's a 16 or 20 rather than a 12.

Looks just like my 200E 20 ga. But mine was made in 1938. No cheek piece or sling swivels.

The spelling on mine is "Weichlot". Der flussmittel ist weichlot. Only kidding. I have no German! However, Herr Google suggests it means "soft solder".

jack

Thanks Herr Rabbit. I wonder if it refers to the ribs, forend lug or what? I'm curious if it could be construed as epoxy. Some of the mounts and maybe forend lug? were fastened by epoxy which became loose by the 1970s.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

The Google link is to sites having to do with the specs on industrial preparations and a dictionary site which simply translates weichlot as soft solder without commentary. I assumed the stamp on the Merkel o/u barrels could only refer to the "traditional" process of attaching doublegun ribs, appearing as it does in proximity to the proprietary Bohler stahl stamp. This is the stuff that adheres the stuff, so to speak. Not much logic in that as I don't recall other marques calling attention to their attachment methods unless having to do with mechanical interlock (dovetail lumps, thru lumps) and then not with a stamp on the gun. This rumor of epoxy attachment is interesting!

What's the time frame on exhaustion of stockpiled pre-war components? Nothing but Gebruder Merkel Suhl left side on my gun. But there are guns with English language stamps. "Made in GDR," "Germany East" are two I've seen recently in photos. Some have Euro market features (cheekpiece stocks, sling swivels) but some don't. Does 1970 sound about right for the appearance of the GDR stamping. Odd sort of thing. East Germany closed the econonmic gates to the West; why stamp guns in English?

jack

Herr Rabbit:

So if it doesn't have the "Weichlot" stamp are we to assume it was assembled by a "non-traditional" process? True it is/would be a rumor on the forend lug, but the story of the epoxy on/around the scope mounts is credible. Post WWII, almost all of the Suhl makers fell under the nationalized conglomerate BUHAG(Buchsenmacher Handels Gesellschaft) which was like a sales rep. due to the fact that direct sales to individual makers was not permitted. For some time many were shipped to Russia was a war reparation and that might account for the "Made in GDR". The DDR(Deutsche Demokratishce Republik"/GDR(German Democratic Republic)" wouldn't ship direct to the U.S. of A. due to a tariff of something on the order of 50% or more. So either a dealer in France(just a wild guess) or I think it to be a contact or firearms merchant in Switzerland was the handler for DDR items indirectly shipped to the U.S. of A. as an attempt to circumvent the heavy tarrif.

As far as pre-1945 components, I can't say but after WWII, the makers in Suhl were back to square one and made everything by hand or with antiquated machinery. The post WWII pieces are truly made by a craftsmen because there just wasn't any sourcing. If there wasn't a component laying around, then it had to be made inhouse. They were getting back to basics. I'll have a look, but I'd guess by the mid to late 1960s most or all of the stock had been utilized.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Raimey, I don't believe there ever was a successful, legal method of circumventing the tariff on goods coming from behind the Iron Curtain, which included guns made in East Germany. At least that's what's indicated in the text of "Buxton's Guide to Foreign Firearms", dated 1963. At that time, the tariff on a shotgun imported from a "free world" country was 15%; from a Communist country, 65%. However, Merkels were available in West Germany--but at a much higher price than their East German export price. For example, on a 200E in 1963, E. German export price was $152; W. German retail, $286. Once they were in W. Germany, they could then be exported to the States, thus avoiding the 65% tariff--but still subject to the higher W. German retail price, plus the 15% "free world" import tariff.

Raimey, I begin to understand the variation in quality of the stamps employed. The ventral barrel stamps are very clean impressions of an upper and lower case font. The english language stamps alongside breech appear usually to come from a very thin, shallow, sans serif, upper case only font applied with less than tender consideration for aesthetics. Very much like the importer stamp on a European semi-auto pistol.

jack

Mr. Brown:

Thanks for the info., insight and refs from the West side of the Wall. But I think this info coupled with additional info from the East side of the Wall will give a better/bigger picture of the goings-on.

Herr Rabbit:

Are you implying that spurious marks might have been applied to sell contraband or something that wasn't contraband at an inflated price?

How much difference in engraving is the 200E & 201E? I know that the Germans sourced Merkel for the 200E for their flyboys?

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse