New guy here, so I figured I'd start things off with a bit of a learning adventure, if anyone is interested.
As expected, I've got a drilling I've been trying to identify. I know, I know, you've
never seen that before here...
I do plan on selling it, to get the wonder out of the way (I suppose many asking these questions had similar plans, but didn't come out with them), but I'm still curious about it's origins.
Also, knowing more about it will allow me to better value the firearm, as well as choose the venue of the sale. There are lots of places from which to choose. I've dealt with most of them, but I don't want to dig into the heavier hitters until I know more.
I'd love to keep it, but if I'm honest it's just been sitting in a safe for the past ten years, not doing me any good at all. That said, it does seem to be fully functional.
I picked it up as part of a collection a while back. Here's what I think I know:
1: I believe it to have been made in 1939. There is potential indication of that date in a stamping, but I'm partially basing that assessment on the dates between when Loesche began manufacturing weapons (Waffen Loesche), and when their facilities were bombed to rubble.
2: Krupp is a familiar name, naturally.
3: An interesting note is the "Hannover-Berlin" script on one of the shotgun barrels. Hanover being the capital of Lower Saxony, and Berlin obviously being the capital of the nation.
I wonder of the manufacturer meant to suggest Hannover and Berlin were connected in some manner, or to suggest travel between the two cities; such as if the dash between meant "to", as in "Hannover to Berlin". That would be interesting.
Adding to that is Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony Anhalt; where I presume Loesche was located at the time. Admittedly, I'm no WWII historian.
4: I don't know about "maker's marks". Something may be present here, but if it is I don't recognize it. I may have missed a few things, as well. In the places I really couldn't get the shot, I traced what I thought I saw in green.
5: All of the shots have been heavily enhanced to show detail, which makes the firearm look much worse in these pictures than it does in person.
Of course, all my suppositions may be complete nonsense. I don't know what's what, so I came here, where the experts seem to reside, and where they seem to enjoy such a quest.
So, there we have it. Quite a few pictures in this post, and more in the next. I think there is a ten shot limit here. If any more pictures are required, I'll make them happen.
I do plan on giving it a light wipe-down and taking some real photographs showing what it actually looks like soon.
