doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Sauer shotgun grade education ....

My knowledge of Sauer shotguns is pitifully poor. What book(s) would you suggest you acquire? I have been offered a gun that the seller refers to as a 60e. It is a boxlock with scalloped receiver and ejectors. He isn't asking much for it. I looked it over and asked him how he knew it was designated a 60e to which he replied that is the description given to him when he purchased it 20 years ago. Not much info to hang one's hat on. Then he told me it was slightly lower in quality than the Royal. Well all the Royals I have seen have lacked the scalloped back and were in my opinion lower in quality than the subject gun. Help appreciated. Thanks Slate

Slate, did you read member Stephens' DGJ articles? If not, I'll have a look for any relevant information. Regards, King

King, I did read one of the articles from the DGJ but did not receive the next edition to read the other. Found it most interesting but couldn't identify the gun in hand by comparing to my memory of the detail in the article. I will read again this PM. Maybe I am missing something.

slate:

I would suggest to visit the German Gun Collectors Association's site or Gunnerman and purchase some of the Sauer reprint catalogues. Also, "The Shooter's Bible" from the 1950's and 1960's will list Sauers. Last, Sauer may be found in "Arms of the World-1911."

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Jeff Stephens wrote three very informative articles on Sauer for DGJ. They were mostly about the earlier models and grades. In the Spring 2004 edition:

"The Sauer Grade 60s outnumber the Grade 45s by a wide margin. The reason for this is not known but perhaps a potential buyer for a Grade 45 in the first few years of the last century would have decided to spend the additional $200 in order to buy the most highly embellished Grade 60 to really distinguish the particular Sauer gun from all others produced. Any potential buyer of a Grade 45 would have to ante up some $400 to pay for one of the finest examples ever produced and a staggering sum, for the times, of $600 for the Grade 60. In today's dollars, that $400 an individual paid for a Grade 45 in 1907 is roughly equivalent to $8,000 and the Grade 60 priced at $600 in 1907, is roughly equivalent to $12,000. . .Four to six hundred dollars was not small change by any means in 1907 and this explains why so few of these higher-graded boxlocks were produced."

I think your friend's memory of the model designation may be flawed. The Royal was a nice gun, but the Model 60 was in a league by itself, a fine example of Sauer's work. If it is a highly engraved Sauer, you might want to jump on it at a fairly low price, then figure out which model you have. For what it's worth, all the Royals I have seen were scalloped back actions, not straight back. That's not to say there could not have been straight back Royals, I just don't know. Jeff is the real expert, maybe he'll be along.

There's some confusion here. I think the gun you're talking about may be one of the post-war West German-made guns. If so, it should say either "Made in West Germany" and/or "Eckernforde" on the barrels. If he's comparing it in quality to a Royal (also a post-war gun), that would make sense. In the post-war guns, the Model 60 was the basic gun, DT and extractors. 60E was the same gun with ejectors. The photo I have does not show a scalloped receiver (which does show on the photo I have of a Royal--both from an old Shooter's Bible), but I'm guessing this is the gun you're talking about. If so, they're pretty solid guns. Quite a few 60's I've seen seem to have minor problems with the wood right behind the receiver. Usually just surface cracks, wood lifting away from the metal. Pretty easy fix for a decent stock guy.

After reading all of Jeff Stephens' articles, the next step is to determine the age of the gun by serial number and date markings. Then you are less likely to go off on a tangent, identifying your gun as a variation not in production at the time your particular gun was made. In other words, if you have a 1907 gun, you won't waste time looking for it in a 1958 Stoeger catalog.

Thanks a lot guys! I got my hands on the DGJ from Summer 2004. I sure wish the gun was like the model 60 described in the article but it is not. Rather it is a post war gun with only minimal engraving conforming to Larry's explanation. It does have decent wood and is in good condiion mechanically but only minimal engraving. After looking at the photos of the grade 40 and 45 guns in Jeff Stephen's article one could be enticed to go on the hunt for a Sauer of such quality. Thanks Again - lots to learn. Slate

All the post war German guns had a quality mark on the right side of the rear lump.(or was it the left?)
Either a "2" or a "1" in a diamond or a fancy "Q".
This mark does not seem to be directly related to the guns grade , but rather the overall fitting polishing etc.
That said my BUHAG has a "1" but is better finished than most "Q" marked guns I have seen.
Judge the gun on its individual merits.

GDU