Great woodcarving and engraving, and a top lever open to boot. Nice.
Maybe you should try to find out. There is one symbol that I noticed, two letters. “WK”. That should be checked
Well my grandfather died in 2019, so that will be tough. I will do some research on the W.K. Though
Just saw this thread and was about to jump in with respect to caliber. If an 8x57JR/360 as it clearly seems to be (always have a cast made incase some shade tree gunsmith tried to turn it into something more modern) it definitely is not the same an 8x57JR! I have owned two over the years - a drilling very similar to yours and single shot Klipplauf. Both were German made like yours. The analogy to the 30-30 is quite appropriate. Creating ammunition can be a challenge.
I think the 8x57r part confuses people. I have no intention of shooting it, but it would be neat to find some ammo to keep with it for display.
It is not an 8x57R J or S. It is an 8x57 JR / 360 - other than bullet diameter (318) a completely different chambering than the 8x57 JR.
Assuming it is in good shape, it would make a very handy woods rifle. The 360 handles whitetail with ease out to 150 yards, and you have the shotgun barrels (2 1/2 inch shells by the way) for small game. Was your grandfather a WWII veteran? This is the sort of gun (minus its scope that was stored separately and often overlooked) that was often "liberated" by advancing GI's.
No, he was born in 1942 so not a ww2 vet. He bought it from a guy he worked with in the 80’s along with some other interesting guns I will share one day. I don’t know much more than that about its origins. He passed in 2019 so I can’t ask him if that guy was a WW2 vet.
It is somehow rather personally depressing that your grandfather could have born in 1942.
I am 30 if it makes you feel better
The first thing that comes to my mind is that the rifle could be made for WK. Wilhelm Keitel. He was the chief of the general staff and in that situation the rifle could reach great value
I feel like there would be a bit more embellishment on a rifle made or presented to a German Field Marshal, let alone a commander of the whole army itselfThe first thing that comes to my mind is that the rifle could be made for WK. Wilhelm Keitel. He was the chief of the general staff and in that situation the rifle could reach great value
Are you sure about that?I feel like there would be a bit more embellishment on a rifle made or presented to a German Field Marshal, let alone a commander of the whole army itself
Absolutely. The drilling is correctly marked as an 8x57JR/360 and as I noted, I have owned and loaded for two of them. However, I would still do a chamber cast. I once purchased a lovely between the wars Austrian drilling with a 7x57R rifle barrel. After firing the first round a fire-formed nearly straight wall case emerged. Some imbecile on this side of the pond had bored out the chamber into some sort of 7mm wildcat. The chamber walls at the new shoulder were paper thin. It is a small miracle it did not blow.Are you sure about that?
Initials on drillings can represent the different tradesmen that worked on the arm. It was like their signature that proved they deserved to get paid for the work. WK could easily be one of the Kelber bros. who were tube knitters. You wanted one of the better known ones because they were the ones who regulated the barrels to shoot correctly. The same tradesmen would sometimes work for more than one firm, as contractors. Sometimes tradesmen had more elaborate hallmarks, like their initials inside a rhombus, etc.
Mr Red Leg Sorry, I made a mistake. I know it's possible and you're absolutely right. When I wrote "are you sure about that", I meant to send a message to Tdsmith517
I feel like there would be a bit more embellishment on a rifle made or presented to a German Field Marshal, let alone a commander of the whole army itself
