doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com GL Rasch Braunschweig

Hello, I am new to this board, and I was hoping to get some information on a GL Rasch made? double barrel hammer gun. It has damascus barrels in 12ga. Left side lock says Braunschweig in gold, Right side lock GL. Rasch. I cant locate the serial number under the forearm or under barrels etc. One small proof mark on the underside of barrels. It has a very fine circle engraving on locks and receiver and also on sides of hammers. Very tight and seems like a very well made gun. Can anyone help me?
Thanks,
Gunder

Here are some pictures

Hi Gunder,
I have a GL Rasch from Braunschweig, that is a Collath action. I have been told that GL Rasch was a retailer and not an actual maker. My 16ga Rasch is very well made and my first side by side given to me by my dad, he recieved it from a Mr Wurtz who brought it from Germany when he emigrated to the US in the 1920's.
Sorry I don't have more information for you maybe some of the more knowledgable will ad some.



Jeff G.

thanks for the reply Jeff.does your gun have a serial # mine does not. do you know of any websites where i might get some information? thanks, Gunder

I've seen a fair amount of Rasch guns. There is no doubt that he aquired actions from other makers, but I've seen enough similarity between guns to think that he or someone working for him finished them. Braunschweig is the town in Germany where he operated from the late 1800's till early 1900's. I'm missing my files, don't remember the last observed date. He was also considered a 'Hofbuchsenmacher' which roughly translates to 'gunmaker to the king' I believe. Most of the guns I have seen are pretty nice, or were at some time. Truth is, there is little known about many of the smaller makers.

Thanks for your reply R.R.Any idea about its value?I carried it around a local gun show and none of the vendors seemed to know about it but one guy offered me 500 for it.Any thoughts on that? thanks again ,Gunder

Hi Gunder,
Mine has a 3 digit serial number. Yours is older, mine has steel barrels and is hammerless.
I would think (depending on condition) that it would be worth a bit more maybe $800-$900.
Jeff G.

Sources give that Georg Ludwig Rasch was born in Braunschweig in 1792 and drew his last breath in this world as a gunmaker sometime in 1867. Using the age of 24 years as the approximate age for completing the gunmaker’s walkabout and paying for his(her?) master gunsmith sheepskin, Georg Ludwig Rasch would have been a master gunsmith in 1816 and I guess him to have been a supplier to a duke’s court about the time percussion firearms entered on the scene. Which duke’s court, I can’t say for now. I’ve seen info that indicated Georg Ludwig Rasch was also an engraver. But the majority of the appointments as suppliers to the royal courts also began about percussion era and for now I think very few hofbuchmachers lived into the 20th century. Heinrich Leue could be one of the very last. But I’ve seen Rasch pinfire examples on the Lefaucheux action and I expect he made percussion doubles sourcing tubes and guns “in the white” from Birmingham and a few examples are noted as having Westley Richard tubes? Probably just after his death G.L. Rasch sourced doubles from the craftsmen in Belgium and Suhl as I’ve seen Sauer marks on G.L. Rasch retailed hammer doubles. In the late 1800s there is an Otto Rasch listed as a gunmaker having a repair facility. I can’t say if this is how G.L. Rasch sourced his components or longarms or even if G.L. Rasch and Otto Rasch were related.

Gunder:
Could you post a few pics of the flats or post any marks or initials on the tubes ahead of the flats?

Jeff G.:

Yes, your's is a Teschner-Collath type and I would be it passed thru the Frankfurt/Oder proofhouse, if any. Any marks on the flats or ahead of the flats?

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Hi Raimey,
I will check it and let you know.

Jeff

Raimey, Hi, Here are some pictures. The only mark I could find is on the barrels. Nothing on the flats or on barrels ahead of the flats. Do you know what kind of material the black rib is made of? This gun has firing pins for center fire shells. Was it converted? Also same black material on butt. Thanks for all the information.
Gunder