doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com My 1938 Greifelt Stalking Rifle

Hi first post here.

I'm looking to learn anything I can on the history and value of this German Stalking rifle.

My father brought this back from Germany after WWII. Firearms were being turned in after the war as new town governments were being set up. This rifle was turned in by a local Count and appears to be a custom made hunting rifle.

It is a break open single shot, 5,6X52R European caliber (22 Savage High Power) made by Carl Stiegele. It has claw scope mounts that I didn't want to mess up so I had a gunsmith make some custom claw mounts that fit the stock mounts and then mounted the modern scope to those blocks.

On the left side of the barrel it is stamped:

Krupp-LAUFSIHAL

and to the right of that:

Carl Stiegele, Hofgewehrfarrik
Munchen

Under the barrel it is stamped with the typical proof marks and the 3 digit number 438. I believe that indicates it was manufactured in April of 1938. the serial number is 37765.

On the bottom of the receiver it marked with Greifelt & Co, Suhl

It has some normal usage wear but is still a beautifully crafted rifle.


Here are few photos:

I think the following is translated from the following site under the History tab:

http://www.stiegele-jagd.de/

http://www.stiegele-jagd.de/history

"The company Stiegele Jagd has been founded in 1837 by Carl Stiegele in Munich. During the 19th century, Stiegele manufactured high-quality hunting weapons for the Bavarian royal house and the higher ranks of the German nobility. In Munich, Stiegele ran a shop in Maximilianstrasse as well as a production of hunting weapons and ammunition. The company became rifle manufacturer for the Bavarian royal court. As noted personalities as Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria and the author Ludwig Thoma counted among it's clients. The company reached worldwide importance far beyond the gates of Munich with it's Feuerstutzen(air or indoor) rifles and it's 4mm-Sport-Rifles-Stiegele-Patent.

The production of high-quality hunting weapons in Munich was maintained in third generation until 1927 by Carl Stiegele (Jnr.). His excessive lifestyle lead to the sale of the company in 1927. Stiegele Jagd became the property of RWS. Stiegele had an outstandingly good projectile production and was therefore of very high importance for the ammunition manufacturer RWS. When, after the end of World War II, the production and the sale of weapons were allowed again, Stiegele was taken over by Victor Brandl senior. In the middle of the 60s, Victor Brandl senior became famous far beyond the limits of Munich with the production of an over-and-under double rifle for deer with freefloating barrels. The further development of this rifle is still produced as model K 80 by the company Krieghoff.

The weapon business Stiegele Jagd had finally been taken over at the beginning of the 80s by Victor Brandl (Jnr.). At the end of the 80s, the company moved from Maximilianstrasse to the actual location in Pfarrstrasse 8. In the middle of the 80s already, Victor Brandl (Jnr.) started with auctions of luxury hunting weapons in addition to the sale of weapons. Today - nearly 20 years later - the Munich auctions on hunting weapons became a recognized institution in Europe and the world. Since 2003, Dr. Thomas Aschenbrenner is responsible together with Victor Brandl (Jnr.) for the success of the company. This ensures the future preservation of the good name and the tradition of Stiegele for the coming decades."

Carl Stiegele sourced many of the top rung craftsmen of Suhl such as Meffert & some of the Merkel boys just to name a few.

Is it possible to get a few images of the marks and initials on the underside of the tube of the Greifeldt Model 180? At the end of the Krupp steel stamp that mark looks to be that of one of the Kelber boys, who would have been sourced for the tube. I think they advertised it as a Novelty longarm and weighing between 2.5 & 2.8 kg. It has the type triggerguard bow of that of the Model 182, which was typically of buffalo horn.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Thank you Raimey.

Yes, I'll try to take photos of the marking later today or tomorrow and post them up.

I appreciate your assistance.

Brad

Lovely little rifle, would make the centerpiece of many collections.

Here are the photos of the marks on the underside of the barrel.





These marks are just forward of the latch lug, also on the bottom of the tube.

Not what I would have guessed but alright. Thanks for the effort on the pics. Interesting that in 1938 it passed thru the Zella-Mehlis proofhouse and not Suhl. Greifeldt more than likely would have been the wholesaler who took Carl Steigele's order, procured the components and either performed the work or subcontracted the work. With the longarm passing thru Zella-Mehlis, I wonder if Greifeldt subcontracted some of the work to a craftsman "L" in Zella-Mehlis. Right off I don't recall when Carl Stiegele expired, but the lone bell had tolled for him and possibly his son long before the time this example was completed and the firm was more or less a firearms merchant, which took a client's order, then sought out a firm in Suhl or Zella-Mehlis to fill the order. The script "L" defines some craftsman, more than likely Zella-Mehlis than Suhl, who was compensated for some effort as well as assumed liability if the longarm didn't pass the test in the final state at the Zella-Mehlis proofhouse in April 1938. Crown over B was an all or nothing proof in the completed state. I would say however that the serial number would fall in the Greifeldt range. Also the Carl Stiegele firm had to have a master gunsmith on staff to peddle weapons.

I'll take a wild guess that it is a pleasure to shoot.

Value is somewhat reduced with the rail scope mount, but a set of rings would almost double the price.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Thanks again Raimey.

Yes it is a pleasure to shoot. It's definitely a nail driver.

If I was to sell it I would remove the rail mounted modern scope. The original claw mounts have not been altered.

Yeah, but you would still need a set of Suhler claw mount rings and they are a bit labour intensive.

I forgot to mention that the reason ole Carl Stiegele could secure lucrative contracts is that he was near the facet of money, which was the case of many firearms merchants. A craftsman could not be the best of the best and be a firearms merchant also. The natural progression of things would be to know/recognize what the end product should resemble, which was a result of being an apprentice and then a journeyman. The firearms merhant would then contract with a master craftsman to perform the work. Suhl & Zella-Mehlis were just teeming with craftsmen like Liege, Weipert and other gunmaking centers.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Just beautiful!

SKB, I agree it's a thing of beauty. I can't imagine what it would cost to build something of similar build quality and craftsmanship in today's world.

Thanks for the comment.

Brad