Back about 1990, I bought a drilling as part of a 5 gun deal. It's a pre-war C.K. Ansorg 16x16x 8x57R. It's a lovely gun with extensive engraving. It is extremely well finished with very fine checkering and internal parts that have a mirror polish. I love the selector on the tang to switch the firing control from right barrel to rifle barrel, while at the same time operating a linkage to raise the rear sight above the rib. It isn't at all heavy or clumsy, but I have only taken it grouse hunting a couple times in all the years I've owned it. I thought it would be nice to try to take a deer with it, but for many years used nothing but my flintlock for deer hunting. Maybe I'll have more time to play with it when I'm retired.
The old German gunsmith who had a shop not far from my parents house had lots of combination guns, piled up like cordwood. He had smuggled them out of Germany after WWII, how I'll never know. They must have been very popular there, but just never caught on over here. We do have some true combination guns, but seem to gravitate more toward stuff with multiple interchangeable barrels like T/C Contenders or the old H&R Toppers. He had a bunch of drillings, and also had Vierlings (4 barrels), Fünflings( 5 barrels), double rifles and cape guns. Many of them had incredible engraving, gold and silver inlays, ivory and intricate stock carving. The four and five barreled guns had some odd configurations and combinations of shotgun and rifle calibers. One gun to cover about every conceivable hunting situation is an interesting concept. I could only imagine the complexity of the lockwork in those. Having worked on a lot of German machinery, I find it to often be somewhat over-engineered. Sometimes I found myself thinking that if the Germans built tanks, airplanes, and U-Boats like the machines I repaired, it's no wonder they lost two world wars.
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