doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com Who did it?

A friend of mine came across what is left of this drilling and thought I might like to have it. Story is, it was buried for some time. Don't know why. I will clean it up what I can and stick it on a wall at the cabin. Anyhow, I was just wondering if someone might be able to decipher who the maker was. I can't really make anything out on the underside of the barrels except for Krupp and what proof marks you see. On top of the right barrel there is a sort of crest and letters that look like a,b,a and Suhl underneath. It is 16 gauge over I believe 9.3x62.

Looks to have some physical damage as well?

It still opens and closes rather smoothly and that is without any cleaning yet or oiling.

I would fancy a better image of the monogram atop the tube but it appears to be >>KABA<< which was:

Karl Bauer & Compagnie. The concern was a Berlin based company with satellite offices in Breslau, Koenigsberg, Frankfurt am Main and Suhl. I would say the Suhl office was a sourcing point as Karl Bauer & Compagnie was not a B�chsenmacher, but rather a firearms merchant, wholesaler & a fierce competitor to GECO. Both concerns had their wares made on the backs of the talented mechanics in Suhl & Zella Sankt Blasii & Mehlis. Karl Bauer & Compagnie specialized in "Vogelbuechsen" and was active until the 2nd Major Disagreement in Europe.

Any images of the touchmarks? Being a Blitz platform, I would hazard a guess it was made in Zella Sankt Blasii - Mehlis.

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

I took another look. It is indeed KABA. Below is a pic of the proofs. I spent some time on the bores. I'm surprised at how much they cleaned up.

Well, I was a bit off by a few kilometers. It passed thru the Suhl proof facility post 1912 & pre-1923 and is 16x16X9,3X72R. HS(Schlegelmilch?) was the tubeset knitter.


Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Thanks Raimey.

Glad to assist. Might have been Express proofed but a bit difficult to discern. Looks like a 12 gramme bullet weight.


Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Just a cursory search mind you, but it appears that Karl Kappes was a shotshell(Schrotpatronen) peddler in Berlin sourcing inland Germany in 1910 and maybe the name was Kappes & Bauer. By the end of WWI in 1919, Karl Kappes expired & Karl Bauer bought into the concern and the name evolved to Bauer & Compagnie. Karl had a son named Gustav who looks to have operated a satellite office in Wroclaw, Poland. And in 1927?, Gustav Genschow & Compagnie absorbed KaBa/Waffenh�ndler Karl Bauer & Compagnie and the name propagated till WWII. Now there were several Bauer mechanics, but Gustav Bauer had an apprentice named Kurt Seidler and after he attained his master mechanic's sheepskin, he continued some leg of the KaBa empire in the 1930s? Quite a KaBa Gordian Knot that needs to be unwound @ some point.

http://www.germanhuntingguns.com/archives/gustav-genschow-co-geco/

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Yes, a "jigsaw puzzle" of information to decipher.

Dropped in the marsh, Brian?

No, it came from a friend in BC. He thought I might like to play around with it. He didn't know why or how long it had been buried. Whether it was buried on purpose or if it was accidently left somewhere, who knows. It was in the elements long enough to rot the wood away. After a bit of cleaning I am surprised that the bores aren't worse. In fact if a guy had a hone, the shotgun barrels would completely clean up with little effort. No deep pitting, just some of that fine sandy appearance. There is still useful parts in the action if someone was in need of parts. Maybe if I get energetic I will carve a stock out of a 2x6 just to make it look more complete and hang it on the wall. Wish the forend iron was with it.

gunsaholic,
After the war, the Germans were required to turn in their guns to the allies, under penalty of death if caught with a gun( at least so threatened). The turned in guns were generally destroyed by various methods, and many were brought home by returning GIs as war trophies. This is how most of the prewar drillings we collect were saved from destruction. Naturally, this was resisted in many cases. The scope and or forearms were removed from many of the guns before turning them in, as resistance to the order, and to save the valuable scope, as well as making them un-appealing to GIs. We know now that a great many were hidden, rather than turn them in. Some of the hidden ones were buried in the ground, well protected, and some not well protected. There is a good chance this drilling was one of those buried, without adequate protection. I have and use one that was also buried. The barrels of mine were in bad shape, but unlike the one here, had a DURAL ( aluminum alloy) receiver which did not rust and protected the internal parts. After rebarreling, restocking, and mounting a new scope, mine is serving me as well as it did it's previous owner. A very good late hunting friend of mine buried 5 of his guns under his house in Erlangen. While he was working over a hundred miles away, someone told the authorities that he had not turned in his guns. They searched his house, which upset his wife so much she made him dig them up an throw them into the Main River, when he did come home. There is little doubt your drilling has a story, too bad it can't talk.
Mike

Thanks Mike. That is kind of along the line of why I figured it was buried. No doubt there is quite the story to this drilling. It's just unfortunate it is of a sordid past.

A question. Would this have had the cross bolt safety through the wrist something like a Greener?

No, looks like the safety is on the top & @ the back.

Cheers,


Raimey
rse

Well I was looking at that and when you slide the thumb piece back and forth all it does is put a block on the middle sear . I know some used the top slide as the barrel selector and had a cross safety in the wrist of the stock. So I thought maybe that's how this one worked as it doesn't do anything when it slides forward except for a little arm blocking the middle sear. Unless it makes a difference if I could cock it.

Most(not all) had the barrel selector on the top tang and had a Greener type safety. The Greener safety would only be attached to the stock and if it rotted away the safety parts would fall out and be lost.
Mike

That is what I think happened in this case as it sure looks like the top thumb slide just blocks the middle sear. I was just curious to confirm.

Oh yeah, the top strap selector. That slipped my mind. I prefer the Swedish switcher myself.

Cheers,

Raimey
rse