Franc,
I always dealt with Carl Blackbern via e-mail (we live in different parts of the country) so I cannot speak to buying from him face to face.
The vast majority of his German guns are post-war Ernst Thaelman guns. The East Germans marked these as 'Merkel', or 'Simson', or 'JP Sauer & Sohn', or whatever name they thought would dress the gun up best. Counterfeit guns, essentially. The east Germans continued to mark Ernst Thaelman guns as 'Sauer' shotguns even after the genuine Sauer re-opened in West Germany in 1951.
Blackbern does get, from time to time genuine, pre-war or war time, Merkel, Simson, or Sauer shotguns. Ask about them, and pay attention to proof dates. Pre-war and war time guns will have proof years prior to 1945. Merkel and Sauer briefly resumed production after the war (1945 – 1947) before being expropriated by the East German government, and these guns are genuine but not as finely made as the pre-war guns. Guns with a proof date of 1948 or later are not related to Merkel, et. al.
Hope this helps.
