doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com re Otto Bock Berlin

Ah, I use odd terms from time to time:


1/2 pipe where I think Merkel & Simson had the full pipe, but I may be thinking post WWII.

Sempert & Krieghoff may have been around 31k and I'm not sure on Krieghoff. It may be that the sporting arms division was Sempert & Krieghoff while Krieghoff filled the military contract?

Kind regards,

Raimey
rse

About twenty tears ago I owned an Otto Bock cape gun,5.6x54R, 20gs, and another set of barrels 20ga x 20ga and a claw mounted scope. Under lever opening. The rib was marked Otto Bock, Berlin, Maker for the Noblity. A friend now owns the gun.

I don't know if it's true, but my friend tells me that Otto
bock was involved in the business of the inventing and manufacture of artifacial limbs. Very interesting, if true.

I have come across that company in my travels through google while trying to find info on our Otto Bock.
Otto Bock Medical Technology, Berlin - they do indeed make artificial limbs apart from other scientific stuff.
ottobock.com is their US site in english.

That firm is still very much in existence.
I assumed that they had nothing to do with our Otto Bock, but may be wrong.
Perhaps I should enquire by email whether they have any relation to our Otto Bock.

Regards
G�nter

Otto Bock in 1907 at 52 years of age shouldering what is said to be a Nimrod with his loyal gundog Heiko. I think it says that Alice took the image or made it? "Nach einem Gem�lde von Frau Alice Bock-Wiukelrtiunn."


Period Nimrod Advert for Thieme und Schlegelmilch

Otto Bock hung out his gunmaking shingle on April 2nd, 1883 and had quite the 25th anniversary celebration in April of 1908. It may be that he received his Royal appointment at the same time? At the time of the founding, he seems to be heavily involved in taxidermy. Seems the story of collecting raptor eggs in Mecklenburg-Strelitz as a lad in the 5th grade? is true. From circa 1890 he was closely involved with hunting by supporting the young hunters as well as being receptive to the needs of veteran hunters with I think led to his bullet 9.3mm steel metal jacket bullet design. There was some Hauptmann Roth who kept his ear bent. And guess who was either his apprentice, employee or both: Paul Stadelmann who later owned E. Schmidt & Habermann. So guess where Otto Bock would have sourced. He reared 2 daughters and 3 sons, one of which was also Otto Bock.

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=260244&page=1
Thread on Otto Bock DR

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Raimey,

I always called that a bolster.

Glossary-Bolster

I jokingly call it a "putter head." I wonder if I should add "pipe" and "half pipe" to my glossary. I wonder what a B�chsenmacher would call it. I have found that when it comes to engraving terminology there are sometimes differences between German and Austrian engravers. Perhaps there is some different terminology among Austrian and German B�chsenmacher also.

Regards,
Roger

Raimey: I think the phrase "nach ein Gemaelde von Frau Alice ..." is meant to say that the pose of Otto and his dog in the photo was set up to follow or mimic the poses in a painting previously made by Frau Alice. It's the kind of thing one will sometimes see in an art gallery or museum where a piece of art is, e.g., "after an ancient sculpture from [insert]" or "after the original in the [name of museum]", and done by a contemporary artist. Chances are Frau Alice didn't take the photo - she was a painter - and may have been long dead before the photo was taken.

Chances are, someone saw the painting and then saw Otto and his dog and said "I saw a great painting of a man and his hunting dog, and it could have been you and your dog. We could make a nice portrait, posing you and your dog like that."

I haven't been able to find anything on Frau Alice googling her name, but that could be a function of some misspelling inserted somewhere along the line or her having been [relatively] unknown as an artist.

Roger, thanks for the insight. I would like to see pipe & 1/2 pipe side-frame reinforcement added to someone's list. What I find interesting is how the reinforcement is masked by the talent of the engravers.

Dave in Maine thanks for giving the phrase a once over. With the images, i.e., putting a face with the name, it of course begins to define the firearms merchant and in my mind reduces the unsavory taste that would be associated with a firearms merchant as he, or she, heavily relied on the talent of the pool of craftsmen in some gunmaking center. I for one would like to hear the unsung song of the very talented mechanics who actually made the sporting weapon. But then again the firearms merchants were businessmen and it was all about the Benjamins.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Dr. A. Berger utilizing the 9.3mm bullet design of Otto Bock.


Otto Bock, Junior with his beginnings of a hunter and quite the shot.


If I have the gist of the tale correct, Otto Bock, Jr. was with his father at an Inn. The youngster asked the Innkeeper if he could warm up his scattergun or break it in on some pigeons that were scattered about the roof. In short order Otto Bock, Jr. began to pile them up and the innkeeper with a glass of lemondae attempted to persuade Otto Bock, Junior to give it a rest.

I still haven't found where Otto Bock, Senior, born in 1855 and should have been a master by circa 1880, was awarded his appointment as supplier to a court and as stated on a previous thread he may have been just supplying antlers. But he did use the title heavily for advertising and marketing.
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=159483&page=1


In this 1890/1891 advert I see where he has won some medals but he doesn't appear to tout the Royal Appointment as antler supplier.
Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Well, I stand corrected as his warrant was circa 1900, or a year or 2 before:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_preu%C3%9Fischer_Hoflieferanten
(copy & paste/go)
From above he had gold medals in Berlin in 1886 and in Cassel(Kassel post 1928) in 1889.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Thanks for the further info, Raimey.
Now we even have a picture of the man himself!

If I read the date stamp on my gun correctly, my gun was made in Sept. 1939 - so the company must have still been going into WW2. Probably with Otto Bock Jr. or perhaps it was taken over by someone else.
I have not been able to find anything on Otto Bock after about 1910 on the internet.

Best regards
G�nter