Thanks for the grounding Chiefshotguns. I will concur that BEMESU was Bernhard Merkel's tradename, for want of a better term, and like MERCOwaffen may have also been their telegram address or name. But I think we are going to find that stamps like BEMESU and MERCO are, in addition to tradenames, are also process marks noting how much effort, and liability in the event of a failure, was applied to a particular example. I think Bernhard Merkel to be the source for many of the unique frames found on German longarms, especially the clamshell. There are some European schools of thought that Otto Seelig was the "in the white" source, but I just don't think so. Economics continues to point to the Suhl/Zella-Mehlis area for sourcing.
August Bräutigam was a frame filer for Gebrüder Merkel in the 1920s so I would expect to see his initials somewhere on many of their examples. But the firearms merchant didn't want any names visible except his. So on many of the odd frames I expect to see the initials "B.M." stamped on the frame hidden from view. I will search for other possibilities. As I've said before I think the Merkel klan played a large role in being sourced by Hof-Büchsenmachers for their examples.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
