Hello all, just joined on the recommendation of a friend. He figured if there's any place I'd be able to find something out about my gun, it would be here.

A little bit of background:

I inherited this Drilling from my grandfather, who received it from my great uncle (on my grandmother's side). There are few inscriptions on the gun, some serial numbers and, I assume, the name of its creator:
"K. Gebert Hofbuechsenmacher Muenchen". Googling around I believe the K to stand for Karl, but I could find only preciously little about him in a mention of another gun from an auction in Germany.
Hofbuechsenmacher essentially means the Court's Gunsmith, which there is none in Munich anymore - though other stores or shops still bear the Royal (Bavaria's royal residency is in the heart of Munich) label.

Sadly someone, my guess is my great uncle who was relatively short, had the stock cut. Over the years it has seen quite some use (there are a few antlers on my grandparents' walls that my grandfather shot with it). The wood was just recently restored, and an extension piece added to give it its original length back.

I would be very grateful for any information about the maker or the gun, thoughts on value, or even just some ideas as to where to look for more information. I could call around in Germany, but wouldn't even know where to start.

Try here:

http://www.germanguns.com/upload/forum.php

Would need to see more but looks like its built on a Collath mechanicals or patent. Any chance of seeing the entire gun? What is the rifle caliber? shotgun gauge??

Cartridge in trap is "8x57JR"

Looks a lot like the Eccentric Breach Collath patent as stated before.

An example is in Norbert Klups "Der Drilling" book.

Says they are a hot collectors item, but very weak in action strength.

Here's another of his guns .

http://www.progun.de/de/shop/l...hk=13&o=hersteller_a