Grandfathers Drilling

[Tdsmith517]

I was in the gun safe again this morning and figured I would share some pictures of my Grandfathers drilling that hung on his office wall until he gave it to me. I don’t know too much about it except it is 16 gauge(2 1/2 inch chambers over an 8x57r/360. The bore on the rifle barrel measures .318. It is a hammer fired gun and has a single flip up rifle sight and claw scope mounts. It also has a storage compartment for 4 cartridges in the stock. It has some pretty neat engraving of some Roe deer, Red deer, Fox, and and dog with a game bird and some other scroll work. It has Krupp steel barrels but I don’t see any other makers markings so I assume it’s a guild gun? If anyone knows more about it please let me know.

 

[Miletic]

Greetings. I think the rifle was made by some famous craftsmen from the town of Suhl in Germany. Perhaps it was also produced in the city of Zella. The Germans produced them for a long time, but yours was certainly not produced before 1909, because that caliber did not exist before that year. If you would take a picture of some more details, maybe I could help you and find out who made your rifle

 

[Tdsmith517]

Greetings. I think the rifle was made by some famous craftsmen from the town of Suhl in Germany. Perhaps it was also produced in the city of Zella. The Germans produced them for a long time, but yours was certainly not produced before 1909, because that caliber did not exist before that year. If you would take a picture of some more details, maybe I could help you and find out who made your rifle

What other details would you need?

 

[mark-hunter]

What miletic was sayimg, first 8 mm mauser rounds were .318, and by the time of ww1 they switched to .323 standard for military

So do not try shooting modern 8 mm. Mauser ammo from that.

You will need to find .318 bullets and reload.

Having said that, never in.my life i saw a rifle in old 8mm caliber (318)

Two wars in europe, on 323 standard.
Each occupation force confiscating civilian weapons

So 318 bore, dissappeared..

323 remained.

You have rarity

 

[Tdsmith517]

I am aware of the difference in 8mm bore diameter. It’s not in an 8mm mauser, it’s in 8x57r/360. My understanding of that caliber is that it was a .360 nitro express(or black powder express?) necked down to 8mm in .318 dia not .323 dia.

 

[Miletic]

What other details would you need?

Pictures of all markings located on the barrel and inside and outside of the head (if any). Take a special picture of the stamp, because the manufacturer's mark can be found there

 

[Datchew]

That is a lovely old weapon. Thanks for sharing the pics

 

[Miletic]

I was in the gun safe again this morning and figured I would share some pictures of my Grandfathers drilling that hung on his office wall until he gave it to me. I don’t know too much about it except it is 16 gauge(2 1/2 inch chambers over an 8x57r/360. The bore on the rifle barrel measures .318. It is a hammer fired gun and has a single flip up rifle sight and claw scope mounts. It also has a storage compartment for 4 cartridges in the stock. It has some pretty neat engraving of some Roe deer, Red deer, Fox, and and dog with a game bird and some other scroll work. It has Krupp steel barrels but I don’t see any other makers markings so I assume it’s a guild gun? If anyone knows more about it please let me know.
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From these markings that I managed to see from your photos, I conclude that the rifle is from Belgium. These are stamps from Liège, but one stamp is not from Belgium. It is this one in the form of a leaf. The number 1046 is not a production number, rather it is a serial number. You need to paint all the inscriptions nicely because there should be a small letter somewhere (eg g). I think that rifle was made in Liège and have a Krupp barrels. I also think that it was made between 1925-1929. This small stamp in the shape of a leaf is possibly proof that the rifle was tested in another country, but for now this is only an assumption.

 

[Tdsmith517]

From these markings that I managed to see from your photos, I conclude that the rifle is from Belgium. These are stamps from Liège, but one stamp is not from Belgium. It is this one in the form of a leaf. The number 1046 is not a production number, rather it is a serial number. You need to paint all the inscriptions nicely because there should be a small letter somewhere (eg g). I think that rifle was made in Liège and have a Krupp barrels. I also think that it was made between 1925-1929. This small stamp in the shape of a leaf is possibly proof that the rifle was tested in another country, but for now this is only an assumption.

Give me a bit and I will pull it out again and see if I can get a better picture of the proof marks

 

[Miletic]

Give me a bit and I will pull it out again and see if I can get a better picture of the proof marks

 

[Tdsmith517]

 

[Tdsmith517]

Hopefully these are more helpful

 

[SFRanger7GP]

Beautiful firearm. Thank you for sharing photos. I think S&B still makes 8x57JR ammo with the .318 bullet. It would be very nice if you could take it hunting.

Safe hunting

 

[Miletic]

Hopefully these are more helpful

Not that they are more useful, but they are just as they should be.
Like this:
the rifle was made in Germany (the markings are clearly visible now). It was made in the city (as I wrote in the first message) of Zella. The exact date is March 1941. I could read that now because you took a photo from the right side. It was made by the highly respected rifle workshop owned by Ernest Krauasser. In addition to the name that you have now painted, there is an EK mark on the batrels that guarantees production according to the German standards of that time.
Above the production date is a birch leaf that was specified as a stand for a successfully made weapon that was made in Zella-Mehlis.
The rifle follows the German stamping laws of 1939 (Reichsbeschussgesetz).
It can be read as important: The eagle(symbol Nazi Ger) above the letter "N" denotes Nitro gunpowder. A crown above the letter R indicates that the weapon has passed barrel inspection. The crown above the letter U (Untersuchung) was awarded to weapons that passed the entire inspection.

 

[Miletic]

Not that they are more useful, but they are just as they should be.
Like this:
the rifle was made in Germany (the markings are clearly visible now). It was made in the city (as I wrote in the first message) of Zella. The exact date is March 1941. I could read that now because you took a photo from the right side. It was made by the highly respected rifle workshop owned by Ernest Krauasser. In addition to the name that you have now painted, there is an EK mark on the batrels that guarantees production according to the German standards of that time.
Above the production date is a birch leaf that was specified as a stand for a successfully made weapon that was made in Zella-Mehlis.
The rifle follows the German stamping laws of 1939 (Reichsbeschussgesetz).
It can be read as important: The eagle(symbol Nazi Ger) above the letter "N" denotes Nitro gunpowder. A crown above the letter R indicates that the weapon has passed barrel inspection. The crown above the letter U (Untersuchung) was awarded to weapons that passed the entire inspection.

It is also interesting that at this time (03.1941) all gunsmiths had to produce weapons for the army, that was the order of Adolf H. This stamps show that this rifle passed inspection at that time, so that surely tells you that it was made for an important man at that time. It is difficult for the rifle to have all this stampa if it was made in series production. Now this is my guess, but I'm probably right

 

[Tdsmith517]

Thanks Miletic, your help in this has been greatly appreciated. It is my understanding that 8x57r/360 is a pretty mild cartridge probably similar ballistically to .30-30 Winchester.

 

[Miletic]

No, the 8x57 bullet has more energy than the .30-30. Although this one on your rifle does not have the energy of the 8x57JS, it is more powerful than the .30-30

 

[MTJumbo]

You might need to chamber cast the rifle barrel and / or slug the barrel to measure the exact caliber. It is a nice piece.

 

[steve white]

You'll use it a bit more if you get claw mounts made for it. Contact JJ Perodeaux.His prices are about the best I've heard of and well made.

 

[Tdsmith517]

It is also interesting that at this time (03.1941) all gunsmiths had to produce weapons for the army, that was the order of Adolf H. This stamps show that this rifle passed inspection at that time, so that surely tells you that it was made for an important man at that time. It is difficult for the rifle to have all this stampa if it was made in series production. Now this is my guess, but I'm probably right

It’s certainly interesting that this was proofed in March of 41’ when the focus of the German Arms industry was on the war effort. My grandfather bought the gun and several others off a guy he worked with in the 80’s so we have no idea of the backstory of the gun itself.