doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com Anton Sodia

What can anyone tell me about this firm. I saw that Anton and Franz were related and you will find more of Franz's work than that of Anton. Reason I'm asking is I picked up a B grade Baker from 1892 with its original twist barrels but the gun also had a set of steel barrels made by Anton Sodia that are fit to the gun. The steel barrels fit perfectly and are beautiful! The barrels were proofed in 1955 and the mark is on both the barrels and water table. I believe that the last owner of the gun was concerned about the safety of shooting the original barrels and in 1954 or 1955 had the gun sent to Anton for the new barrels. I guess Austria was still rebuilding from the war at that time.

Jack K

Jani provides us with the following Sodia history:

"Sodia (Sodja) is still a common family name in the NW part of Slovenia called Gorenjska (Upper Carniola). Back in 1869 a young mechanic named Anton Sodia left his native Gorenjska region (at that time a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) and immigrated to Unterferlach (now an integrated part of Ferlach). Having a mechanical background he started a gunmaking business in 1870. He married and had six children, one of them being Franz. So this was the origin of two famous Ferlach gunmaking houses, Anton Sodia and Franz Sodia.
BTW many other Ferlach gunmakers are/were of Slovene origin (Borovnik, Glanznig, etc.)."


http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...true#Post132038

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Raimey,

Thanks for the history and the link. I don't want to think about what those barrels would cost me today. I noted that they are made of Bohler Blitz Stahl (steel) and that they are 2-3/4" chambers 70mm. They are beautiful and I feel lucky to have the original barrels as well as the additional barrels.

Jack K