doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com A Very Unusual Action

I just have found one ad in the RU-Net, where one owner sells Lebeau-Courally gun. By description its o/u gun with barrels open to the left. Maybe the same Superbritte. I've heard Francotte made it also.
I agree your gun is different. Will wait when you open this gun and find something interesting

Yes, we now understand that Britte made actions and barrels for many makers in Belgium, and the rest of Europe. At one time I thought maybe John Dickson, too, but those guns seem very different and probably only from Dickson. My thought is that the gun I have pictured is not that old. Could it be after WWII ? For sure after WWI. I think I said to someone that the gun looked like it was a project in a gunmaking school, where the Master gave the student some parts and said to "make it".

True, it has some attributes similar to an Austrian/Ferlach example but I think some of those originated in Suhl. It is a late 1940s example with a frame sourced from the Sauer plant, after the core Sauer folks vacated the premises, with typical pipe style side frame reinforcements as seen on Merkels. I think it to be from 1949 and the serial number fits into the Sauer series and there are only a few, and maybe only one or two firms whose series reach into that range. The wood to metal fit as well as the engraving tends to point to this period and as well I think it to have overhanging and intercepting scears due to the screw symmetry. Since the tubes are somewhat rotated I think the ribs are partially covering the makers marks. During this pre-MEWA/VEB time what was left of Sauer and Simson made an effort to ensure tradition by propagating the knowledge of the older expert craftsmen to the next generation thru education and this could easily be one example. BuHag(Buchsenmacher Handels Gesellschaft) I think was in place. Either a master craftsman proved to a journeyman that it could be done or either a journeyman suggested a wild idea and a master craftsman called his hand at it, which made the journeyman perform. It is one more odd, intricate bird with an odd shaped toplever. By the way all of the above is pure conjecture.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

With absolutely no proofs it could have been made in America!

Daryl, My best to you and Ann for the Holidays, Hope you are Flying to B.C.! I owe you email but will make a concerted effort to rendezvous after the holidays.

Shovelin' Steve
I REALLY want to see (and shoot!) this new one!

I really don't think it was made in America as the anti-German sentiment was very, very high and it would have to have been hid under the bed or in the closet for many years. Along with the rocket scientist, I'm sure German were here or on their way here and had the ability and desire to make such an example.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Perhaps we will never know the true maker. A very interesting action but not like the SuperBritte I use to have. It just looks much less refined in the lines and it looks very stout to my eye. I suspect a Germanic origin. No proof makes me think a prototype or a personal gun for the inventor. Perhaps he ran out of time or money before the project was done. Or the SuperBritte came out at the same time and took the market away. Two major wars and a World wide depression had to kill many dreams and projects. One more time where we wish these old guns could talk and give us their life story.

Raimey,
"the serial number"... What serial number? I can't see it...
With kind regards,
Jani

Jani:
It was on another pic that was supplied to me and the position of the number is typical of BuHaG examples as is the slanted cylindrical crossbolt. I have a 1956 BuHaG example that is in the 29k range with an August Schuler stamp on the frame as well as the Simson triangles. Interesting also is that "Simson" in script underlined is on both tubes along with "?? Special-Gewehr-Lauf Stahl S???" A question I have is where are the cocking indicators and why were they left off? Maybe a conflict with design?





Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Raimey, for post war East Zone or GDR that's impossible, moreover thats impossible for Buhag.
I can't see s/n, but my guess to check it with Meffert prewar serials.

Thanks, Raimey.
It may well be a Suhl frame but the finished product still whispers "Ferlach" to my ears. Lack of indicators is yet another indication in this direction.
As I see it, one possibility is that it was made for a high ranking Allied (British?) officer in occupied Ferlach, possibly circa 1947, before the formal production was restarted (circa 1948?). He could afford to skip the formal proofing - if it was operative at that early date at all.
With kind regards,
Jani