Hey, guys.

What's the oldest Merkel OU you've seen? Do you have any pics you can share?

Merkel claims to have started making OUs in 1898. I've seen a couple from early '30s, but I don't know if I've seen from before then.

Thanks,

OWD

Indeed, Gebrüder Merkel was founded in 1898 and had a Bockgewehre Modellreihe but I am not sure that the Bockgewehre was highly popular until a bit later?

Serbus,


Raimey
rse

Perhaps. But if they weren't building many OUs early on, what were they making?

Do you know when Merkel/German OUs first appear in American catalogs from NYC shops like Stoeger?

I know they were selling them by 1932. But any earlier?


Thanks,

OWD

They may have been making weapons for the French speaking market as I have seen adverts from the early to mid 1920s in French. Too, I believe that they advertised that they had been making O/U - Bockgewehre - Superposés since 1905.

Remember that S,D,G / Daly had the U.S. of A. market cornered and as their concern faltered, others like A&F, V,L,D, etc. picked up their share. Daly was peddling side by sides and even had to pull in Sauer to fill all the orders.

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

for what its worth, i have a beautiful 12 OU dated october 1935.

Courtesy of Mr. Hallowell

Oldest pic I could find.

I think we are going to see few here in the U.S. of A. so we need to look to inland Germany & maybe to eGun.de or similar?

https://www.egun.de/market/list_items.php?cat=64

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Raimey, totaly true what you say. The answer you can find in the book of Hans Jürgen Fritze "Gebrüder Merkel" pagina 12 you can read that the production fur Bockgewehre started in 1905.
Cheers, Marc.

Thanks for the info, guys.

Does Fritze's book have any pics of early Merkel OUs?

BTW: Here's one imported by Stoeger, built in 1929:

https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...derlugs-double-bite.cfm?gun_id=100784503

OWD

Marc:

Many thanks for the conformation and Great to see you engaged & posting.

I would follow the money guns in competition shooting. I would say that was driving the type of shotgun platform and most everyone else joined the cult. Like I said, Daly had the pulse of the American Sportsman plus offered his wares as prizes @ shooting events and if he wasn't promoting it, it wasn't sold. So when Schoverling, Daly & Gales started to fall apart, the other American retailers took their respective pieces of pie. And in those slices of pie was the new fangled stack gun platform that was all the rage and made the most money.


Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Are you looking for an example peddled in the U.S. of A. or just any O/U - Bockgewehre - Superposés since 1905?

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Too, could it be a Biks or Combo instead of just a scattergun?

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

My oldest Gebr. Merkel is a Drilling from about WWI (retailed by Miller & Val. Greiss, München).
My most carried Merkel is an O/U DR from 1935, my old reliable multi purpose rifle.
And my Merkel shotgun is a 200E from 1951, my first Gebr. Merkel, and about the oldest I could find locally. Then I turned to Hermann Historica and eGun.

Cheers,
Jani

Hey, Raimey.

I'm interested in seeing any early Merkel OU.

Thanks,

OWD

Here is an early Merkel O/U (from Hermann Historica, Munich): https://veryimportantlot.com/en/lot...it-zf-zeiss-wl-bockbuch-420323#gallery-1

Serial number is 16715. My Merkel DR from 1935 is number 21849 so this one could be from about 1930?

Cheers,
Jani

Another Merkel O/U from the same period, number 16317 (Hermann Historica, Munich): http://www.hermann-historica-archiv...R&c=610&t=temartic_S_GB&co=1

Cheers,
Jani

See, all these examples are a far cry from 1905. The fad must have taken a while to gain traction and Gebrüder Merkel was turning out typical platforms till the 1930s?


Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Boy that W. Glaser retailed example is some kind of nice.

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

If I remember correctly, at that time (1920s/c.1930) Merkel's over/unders started winning the international pigeon shoots such as Monte Carlo and Gebr. Merkel used that as a capital to promote their vertical guns in general, obviously with great success.

Cheers,
Jani

Many thanks Jani for the confirmation on the Pichón shooting soirées. I believe that Simson followed a similar path or had a similar advertising protocol.


Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Here is the Merkel French catalog with pigeon advertising in it. 1926 possibly, from German hunting guns site
http://www.germanhuntingguns.com/ab...atalogs/geb-merkel-in-french-circa-1926/

A very informative catalog. It was likely published in 1935 or 1936 as it mentions Grand Prix de Barcelone 1935. We also see that Merkels took German Championship in 1928 and International Championships from 1930 on.

Cheers,
Jani

What is that last sentence on page 12 saying?

This sentence?

>>Cette supériorité incontestable du Merkel Fréres s'explique par le fait que cette Maison est la
plus ancienne spécialisée dans la fabrication du fusil à canons superposés, ses premiers
modeles ayant été exécutés dans ses unines en 1905.<<


Also about the same verbiage here:

https://www.lechasseurfrancais.com/chasse/armes-et-munitions/merkel-succes-superposes-62206.html

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

What I glean from the article is that Gebrüder Merkel languished on the O/U effort until 1905 when they were able to devise a modular method or similar to efficiently and effectively produce stacked hunting gun platforms, as well as filed patents. But production for the War effort delayed their endeavors as well as the following economic downturn post WWI. But they still designed and patented their novel ideas for stacked hunting gun platforms. Then their wares started winning competition and that thrust them to the forefront.


Serbus,


Raimey
rse

Wow, 24, 32 gauges, drillings, .577 Nitro rifles, full stock single barrels, or are they over unders? Where are all those great guns today? I guess we should be watching the European auctions. They sure aren't at Holt's. They actually mention pigeon shoots at Yorklyn, Delaware.

One of the reasons we don't see some of the guns & rifles listed in the catalog is that they were made in very limited numbers, such as full stock single barrels. Another reason is some were made for other vendors. Once I bought a Drilling marked by a famous Munich gun shop and only found its real parentage afterwards when I examined it at home - it was/is the Merkel model 143 as shown on page 39 of this catalog. I have a number od Ferlach and other Drillings but this one stands out easily.

Cheers,
Jani

I see at p.35 they advertised the full stocked single shot as the Carpathian rifle.

At page 41 the SxS boxlock rifle looks very similar to the inter-war 8x57JR Manton of Calcutta that I believe was made by Merkel.

I am a bit surprised by the full stocked Carpathian (page 35); I was under impression that the classic Carpathian Merkel was 3/4 stocked.

Cheers,
Jani

Interesting the use of double sets instead of single set unless it was built on an O/U action.
Scratch that, my morning coffee hadn't kicked in yet;-)