In other news, the bore cast tonight shows that indeed, the gun is positively a 8x57 rimmed contrary to what the German Gun Collectors guys swore to me. They claimed that Henri Roux actioned guns were NEVER 8x57 and when proofed as mine is, were usually 8x57/360.
Well, I am that "German Gun Collecctors Guy". Rookhawk did not quote my then statement correctly, so here is what I wrote on July 13, 2010 when questioned about this drilling and Ströver of Nordhausen:
"I looked up the Drilling on the doublegun forum. It is a quite ordinary so-called "Rouxdrilling" as made by several noname makers for the trade in both Suhl and Zella-Mehlis. The Ströver one was proofed January 1929 and probably made in Suhl because of the word NITRO is in block letters. The A.Schüler / Palatia one on the same thread was certainly proofed in Zella-Mehlis up to 1911 because of the gauge number and the "731" ledger number.
I very much doubt this Drilling to be a 8x57IR (the rimmed version of the Mauser case) as these Rouxdrillings were never made for these (for the day) high-pressure numbers. It rather is in 8x57R360, a much slimmer case in the 30-30 class. If someone has rechambered it to take the 8x57IR it is an outright dangerous piece of junk!
Today I called the nowadays Adolf Ströver, Stolberger Str.9, 99734 Nordhausen, Tel. 03631 992119, and had a short talk with the 80 years old gentleman. Yes, the company still exists and is still owned by the family, but they call it "The oldest bicycle shop in Thuringia"! He remembers his grandfather was sort of a gunsmith too, besides selling and repairing bicycles, so here we have the classic case of a country gunsmith who retailed and signed some guns, but certainly did not make them. On April 3-4, 1945 the family home and shop were bombed out like 75% of Nordhausen, so pre-war documents, if they ever existed, are lost. As Nordhausen and surroundings were first occupied by the US army because of the Dora V2 factory nearby, guns sold locally by Ströver were liberated then."
CAVEAT EMPTOR!
