1st, I'll have to say that the marks on the tubes of this Muzzelschluß DR aren't on a O. Geyger but a W. Foerster. However, it does has the same addressing of the fences as those on O. Geyger's and J.J. Reeb's examples, but also a clamshell. The owner came thru with a lovely effort capturing 3 sets of "R.S." initials. I'd guess this A&D W. Foerster, as found in Bell's article in DGJ Vol. 5 Issue 3 at page 40, was made circa 1910-1912. I think it to be a transitional time when mechanization was taking the place of efforts that were previously performed by hand. I'd guess Bernhard Merkel filed the frame and Robert Schlegelmilch performed about anything that had to do with the tubes. Of course Richard Schüler has the same initials but in my opinion I don't think he could file his way out of a wet paper bag and was more of a firearms merchant or businessman than a in the trenches craftsman. Many mastercraftsmen recoginzed the writing on the wall and became very good businessmen, which in the end removed themselves from the actual work involved in making a quality piece. Now they knew what it should be, but sourced the components and subed the work or just sourced the longarm in the finished state with his name roll stamped on the top rib or tube. It was very difficult to be a mastercraftsman and a business man. The 2 could exist in harmony, or be synonymous early on, but were on diverging paths. I'm beginning to think H.A. Lindner was no different and was more of a business man who had an exceptional eye for quality. Some may disagree, but why are the initials of well established craftsmen found on his examples? At any rate the Berlin contingent, with the exception of Fischer and a few others, heavily sourced the craftsmen of Suhl and Zella-Mehlis for their example. Almost all the quality German pieces peddled were the effort of the mastercraftsmen in Suhl & Zella-Mehlis.
And then there's the ominpresent "K" in a rhombus or rotated square. There may be an exception, but all the clamshell's I've viewed had Krupp steel tubes.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
