doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Merkel Combo Gun -- Need Basic Info

To the weight: this is 6 Pfund (german pounds) that are 3 Kg!!!!!

And for the test shooting in the factory: it is "Fleckschuss" do not know the exact english word, it means right on the spot, not, for example 4 cm Hochschuss, that means 4 cm to high on 100 meter. Hope you understand!


Gunwolf

Another Detail:

Under Lauf B�hlerstahl there is written with pencil:

"Sollen sp�ter Bockb�chsflinten L�ufe eingelegt werden"
Means: Combo Gun Barrels shall be inlayed later.
It was clear from the beginning, that a Combo Barrel should be inlayed!

Texasjack, in this context I would like to know if there is a french Stecher on the
front Trigger?

Best Regards,
Gunwolf

Gunwolf:
What is the load data for the rifle cartridge & the schrot variant(Nr. 3 or 3mm?). Also does any of the cards you reference name the tube maker who was sourced by Merkel?

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Typically a new tubeset warrants reproof. Is there a Crown over R on the water table/frame?

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Raimey,

Shot is (german) Nr. 3 = 3,5 mm!) = english Nr. 2!

Rifle 3,7 Gramm Bl�ttchenpulver with 26 mm (length!) Ogivalbullet(9.5 Gramm.

I'm not sure about the R, because the combo barrels have their own number.
It is a Gun for it' s own and of course normally proofed.

Best Regards,
Gunwolf

But a tubeset was added later, albeit a short time. You can't fully proof a tubeset without a frame, which would wear the Crown over R.

I fancy #2s, British or American

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

3.5mm converts to .138". An English #2 should go .150" with an English #3 going .140. Give or take a bit of tolerance variation on either of course. Sounds more like an English #3 to me.

Gunwolf, I am away from home and the gun on business until May 25. When I return I will look on the front trigger for a "French Stecher" IF YOU DESCRIBE WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT A "FRENCH STECHER" LOOKS LIKE!!

TexasJack

Here is the revised write-up ("gun story") following Gunwolf's latest added information. (I hope this is not boring anybody!)

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 as originally configured was completed on 21 August 1928. It originally was a 16 gauge over-under (O/U) shotgun, with just one O/U barrel, and did not have an extra combination (combo) gun barrel. 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 tusk). 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 6 German pounds (3.0 kg). 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 Hauptmann Hammer, a German Military Officer. It was delivered to its Owner on 31 August 1928.

The gun Owner wanted to add a combo gun barrel to have both shotgun and rifle capability from the same O/U barrel. On the cards, under �Lauf B�hlerstahl,� there is written with pencil: "Sollen sp�ter Bockb�chsflinten L�ufe eingelegt warden." This translates to: �Combo Gun Barrels shall be inlayed later.� This makes it clear that from the beginning a follow-up Combo Barrel was planned to be inlayed later! 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 7x57R cartridge rifle barrel. The combo barrel has ejectors for both shotgun and rifle. It is a Model 260E barrel. The commission number is 0339, i.e. the internal order number for this gun in the Merkel factory for the year!

The added barrel is serial numbered 16141 to match the original gun, and the added barrel is also newly serial numbered 16867 to reflect it is an added item to this gun. After the added barrel was completed it was sent to the scope installation shop where it had a Zeiss Zielvier scope added as a factory original barrel enhancement. (Later these scopes 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 in a claw mount set with a see-through opening below the scope to sight the shotgun and the rifle via the flip-up rear iron sight in front of the front scope mount. The front trigger fires the rifle and the rear trigger fires the shotgun.

The shotgun test fire in the factory indicates, �good dispersion, not scattering too much.� The gun card for the added combo rifle barrel indicates �Fleckschuss," which translates to something like �right on the spot,� not, for example, 4 cm �Hochschuss,� which means 4 cm too high at the 100 meter test range. The added 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 action, stock, barrel and Zeiss scope have been together now for almost 85 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 O/U 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.

Both of the cards and also the gun engraving indicate �Georg Honold.� Honold was a popular gun trader in Ulm during this time between the World Wars. Honold�s name is seen on the cards more than once, with date, which means he was personally involved in this order! See Card 1: "Honold 9.VIII.28," and Card 2: "Honold 8.II.29." Now the whole scenario becomes clear: Captain Hammer ordered a Merkel Gun from the Gun Trader Georg Honold, who ordered it at the Merkel factory and nurtured it through its manufacture!!

The 2 gun cards follow. Comments from readers are encouraged concerning the �gun story� above in the context of the gun cards and general knowledge of fine German guns.

Well done! It's a nice story!

French Stecher means: you can push the front trigger forward until you hear and feel a "Click". By now the trigger is very sensitive and you can shoot with a smooth action of your finger tip! The same effect as with the so called "deutscher Stecher" where you have to push an extra second trigger behind the front trigger. This of course does not work on a Combo or Double or Drilling but only on a single rifled Gun.
Hope you understand my english....!!! ;-)

Gunwolf