I have the itch for a drilling, ideally from between the wars. The problem is, I've been devastated to learn that what appears to be a safety on the top tang of most is in fact a barrel selector, using a Greener style slide safety on the left side of the gun. Call me a wimp, but I hate them, and they have been a dealbreaker on many shotgun finds that were otherwise promising.
Wondering if there are specific makers or terminology I should be using to search for a drilling or action style that doesn't have the Greener-style safety on the side. Call me a wimp, but that is a no go for me, as I plan to hunt with the gun. Hammerless preferred.
I recently found a gun at my LGS that looks promising, but the shop owner confessed to not knowing much about how they work and didn't have snap caps handy.
The gun has what appears to be a top-tang safety and a small lever on the top half of the slide on the top tang that rotates left/right, kind of like I've seen on some of the MacNaughton shotguns with the "toggle safety".
So, I'm a bit unsure if this is the safety or the barrel selector. "Sicher" (SAFE?) is engraved above the toggle, and below the toggle is a slide that looks like a normal safety. The gun has an unusual style action, that I can only describe as resembling a Darne, but it does not have a sliding breech; though the cocking indicators appear to slide rearward. He said something about Collath, but this didn't really look like that either. and was not made by W. Collath. I'm a bit puzzled, and wondering why I'm not seeing more with this sort of type of action/configuration. Made between the wars; Nuremburg. Wondering if anyone has seen anything like this.
I'm intrigued by the gun, and it appears to fit me, but would need a bit of work to repair a crack and glass bed the stock and improve the wood to metal fit where wood has shrunk back but otherwise looks like a well made piece.
