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

Texasjack,
Say- Vide Maans Heil and Vide Maans Daank.
By the way the "French Stecher" is known as a single set trigger, here.
Mike

That's a phonetic pronunciation I was looking for....thanks! And Waidmannsheil to you always!

Gunwolf, thank you for all your help in understanding the background of this gun immeasureably better. My appreciation for this fine German work of art has increased immensely as a result. The "Gun Story" is now probably final, so I am posting it one last time, below. Others, thank you also for helping to get a fix on the significance of this beautiful firearm.

TexasJack

An Amazing Gun Story About a Fine German �Combo� Gun

Two original Merkel �Factory Gun Cards� for this gun have been provided by Merkel to the present Owner. These cards, which date back to 1928, 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. This gun order was Commission Number 538 for the year 1928. 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 today. 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. A German pound equals 1.1023 American pounds, so this gun was recorded at the factory to weigh about 6.6 American pounds. It is an engraved gun, Model 200E, and it is a �signature gun,� with the name of Ulm, Germany gun trader �Georg Honold� marked in the action (more information on Honold below). The shotgun is documented as having �a very good shot capacity/pattern.� This gun 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 added later.� This makes it clear that from the beginning a follow-up Combo Barrel was planned to be added at a later time, and this requirement was accounted for in the original gun manufacture. 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 was 0339, i.e. the internal order number for this gun in the Merkel factory for the year 1929.

The added barrel is serial numbered 16141 to match the original gun, and it is also newly serial numbered 16867 to reflect it is an added item to the original 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 period 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!!

Copies of the 2 gun cards follow.

Texasjack, very well written story! I love these Gun Cards! Wished I had such a lovely Merkel. Mine is a 16/70 Gauge O/U from 1969. Made in the DDR, good quality, nice to shoot. Looking forward to your shooting results, hope to get some infos about!
Best regards,
Gunwolf

Gunwolf, the 7x57R ammo ordered online has arrived and is ready for the range! I will test the rifle with this ammo at 100 yards. Also I plan to test the shotgun with Brenneke slugs at 50 yards. I will let you know the results. I feel fortunate to have stumbled onto the fine Merkel combo gun and then its history in so much detail. The seller did not seem to know/appreciate the uniqueness of the gun, and I did get it at a good price I believe. As to your gun, I think German craftsmanship has not diminished much, if any, over the years, from the looks of the modern guns I see for sale. Germans are meticulous people today, as they have long been. Do you have any thoughts on how I might go about trying to find the "missing 16141" O/U shotgun barrel for this gun, presummably in Germany?

TexasJack

Wondering if the fact that this Merkel gun has "Georg Honold" markings increases its rareness and value. I see many other similar Merkel guns of this era that look almost identical, but lack the "Georg Honold" markings. Does this marking increase collector value? Does it mean it was manufactured to a higher standard? Styled in some more attractive way?



TexasJack

Texasjack, you may have a look from time to time on this site:
http://www.vdb-waffen.de/de/gebrauchtwaffenmarkt/

Give in "Merkel" in the "Suche" "Suchbegriff" . On this site most of the german Gunmakers and Traders sell their used Guns. Maybe one day it happens....
What you are looking for is called: "Wechsellauf" in this case "Doppelflinten Wechsellauf" for Merkel 200E. Of course you are free to ask the Gunmakers theirself or to inserate in a german Hunting Magazin. For me the problem is, whether such a barrel still exists without the proper Gun....! A real problem, I think. I will ask all Gunmakers I know.

To the Honold Mark:

It�s not uncommon having a traders mark on the Gun. It doesn't mean a higher standard. Many of them did not make Guns on their own. Honold seems to be not so well known, he disappeared after WW II as so many Gunmakers and Traders.

Best Regards,
Gunwolf

Gunwolf, would you write in German a sentence or two that explains what I am looking for (and why, maybe). Include at the end, in German: "Thank you very much for any information you can provide. I can be contacted at email mljack@earthlink.net, phone 1-281-773-0402. Mike Jackson, Houston, Texas, USA."

I would paste that text verbatim (exactly) in various German gun related websites and also possibly use it in letter correspondence to various German sources.

TexasJack

PS.....your consulting check is, again, in the mail! ;-)

Guten Tag,

mein Name ist Mike Jackson. Ich bin ein amerikanischer Jagdwaffen Liebhaber. Durch Zufall bin ich in den Besitz einer Merkel Bockb�chsflinte aus dem Jahre 1929 gekommen. Diese Waffe wurde urspr�nglich als Bockdoppelflinte gebaut. Ich bin nun auf der Suche nach diesem Bockflintenlauf. Wie ich aus den Original Merkel Waffen Karten wei�, tr�gt der gesuchte Lauf die Herstellernummer 16141. Die Nummer der in meinem Besitz befindlichen Waffe lautet 16867 / 16141. Sie wurde f�r den Waffenh�ndler Georg Honold in Ulm von der Firma Merkel hergestellt und war vermutlich f�r einen Hauptmann Hammer gedacht. Der Weg der Merkel in die USA bleibt unklar, m�glicherweise wurde sie als Kriegsbeute von einem GI mitgebracht. Wie auch immer, ich w�rde gerne die Waffe in allen Teilen wieder vereinigen. Seit nunmehr 85 Jahren sind Bockb�chsflinte und Zeiss Zielvier zusammen und es w�re sch�n, wenn der Original Schrotlauf eines Tages dazu k�me!
Vielen Dank f�r jede Information �ber den Verbleib des Wechsellaufs. Bitte kontaktieren Sie mich jederzeit �ber E-Mail: mljack@earthlink.net oder Telefon: ++1-281-773-0402, Michael Jackson, Houston, Texas, USA

Texasjack, It is a little bit more, I translated a summary of your story. Hope this helps.

Good Luck!
Gunwolf

P.S. No check in the Mail - think they were all gone lost......;-)

Gunwolf, I HOPED you would elaborate on the "why" part of the request. And in keeping with your stellar work to assist me so far, you DID. Many thanks, again!

Texas Jack (Mike)