All interested parties please feel free to comment on the following "gun story" which stems largely from the gun cards and their interpretation by member "Gunwolf" in Bonn, Germany. I have some questions about whether my conclusions below are in all cases correct. Comments are welcomed, to get this story right. Thanks to all of you!

TexasJack

Two original Merkel “Factory Gun Cards” for this gun have been provided by Merkel to the present Owner. These cards have been interpreted from German to English in summary form by Merkel and in additional detail by a German gun enthusiast now living in Bonn, Germany. These gun cards followed the gun’s component parts through the assembly lines, and the Merkel master craftsmen documented its fabrication and testing each step of the way. The following gun information comes from the gun cards.

The gun was originally completed on 21 August 1928. It was originally a 16 gauge over-under (O/U) shotgun, not a combination (combo) gun. The gun has serial number (SN) 16141, marked on the removable forearm and the barrel. The O/U shotgun barrel has a 2-3/4” chamber and shoots modern 2-3/4” shot shells but not magnum shells. The original stock length was 368 mm (14.5 inches) and this is still the case. The stock has a butt plate made of buffalo horn. The trigger guard is also made of buffalo horn. The front sight is made of ivory (elephant tusks). The barrel was completed in the Merkel factory in Suhl, Germany on 06 August 1928. The stock and its attachment to the action were completed on 15 August 1928. The gun was weighed on 21 August 1928 to be 2 km (6 pounds). It is an engraved gun, Model 200E. It is documented as having “a very good shot capacity/pattern.” It was manufactured as a single order for Captain Hammer, a German Military Officer. It was delivered to its owner on 31 August 1928.

Soon after taking possession of the gun the Owner decided he wanted to add a combo gun barrel to shoot both shot shells and rifle cartridges from the O/U barrel set. This added barrel set was completed at the Merkel factory in Suhl on 15 February 1929. The barrel set has a 2-3/4 inch 16 gauge shotgun barrel over a 7x57mmR cartridge rifle barrel. The combo barrel has ejectors. It is a Model 260E barrel. The commission number is 0339. The barrel is serial numbered 16141 to match the original gun, and the barrel is also newly serial numbered 16867 to reflect it is an added item to this gun. After the barrel was completred it was sent to the scope installation shop where it had a Zeiss Zielvier scope added as a factory original barrel enhancement. (These scopes later were widely used by the German Army for sniper duty.) The scope SN is 32085. The scope has an Abkommen #5 reticle. The scope is mounted on a claw mount set with see-through below the scope to sight the shotgun. The gun has a flip-up iron sight in the rear in front of the front scope mount. The front trigger fires the rifle, the rear trigger fires the shotgun. The shotgun test fire in the factory indicates, “good dispersion, not scattering too much.” The combo gun barrel was finished on 08 March 1929, and the last date entered by Merkel on the gun card was 28 March 1929, about 7 months after the original gun rolled out of the factory (31 August 1928 to 28 March 1929). The Merkel barrel and Zeiss scope have been together now for over 80 years. As far as known, the barrel and scope have never been separated.

In those days in Germany it was commonplace to order a 2-barrel set O/U shotgun with a combo gun barrel in the same order, or to order a second accessory barrel for the gun at a later time. The original shotgun barrel serial numbered 16141 has been lost to history and its current location is unknown. The current Owner of the gun would like to find the original barrel to bring all the original parts of the gun back together. The combo barrel added a few months later in early 1929 and the original action/stock completed in late 1928 remain together, with original factory installed scope also intact. How this combo gun came to America is unknown. It is possible it was a “spoils of war” brought to America by a serviceman after World War II.

The 2 gun cards follow.





Last edited by TexasJack; 05/10/13 04:13 AM.
TexasJack
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