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Suhl hammer drilling

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14 September 2006, 03:19
Rug
Suhl hammer drilling
I met an old guy the other day who showed me a drilling from his family collection.He asked me if I could help identify it or give any info on it.Caliber of rifle unknown, the only writing is Suhl on the SxS shotgun barrels which look like 16 ga.It has an under lever to open action,and a wing to apparently change to rifle as the rear site pops up when the wing is moved.It does have rabbit ears on the shotguns.The gun has a Roe buck and some large bird engraved on each side of the receiver, bird looks like a turkey as its tail is fanned out.Also in the stock is a cartridge trap with metal cap. I have handled very few JP Saur and sohn modern drillings but this was out of my league. He ask me what it was worth? I told him I would have to refer to the AR team for some more info. Help Please. Ben (rug)
14 September 2006, 08:51
trmungle
Most likley it is 16x16x9.3x72. The lever that looks like a top lever opener is the rifle barrell selector. If you look carefully at the bottom of the right hammer when you push the lever to the left, you will see a tab come out that will contact the hammer and fire the rifle barrel. It also raises the rear sight on some drillings. There is a lot of info under the barrels on those old drillings via various stamps from the proof house. Check at www.germanguns.com for some info for reading those markings. Some of those drillings were made up into the 1930s and are good shooters. I have two, and enjoy them.
Tom
14 September 2006, 20:34
blackbearhunter
Theres allways a couple for sale on the gun auctions.you can check prices there for similar drillings.The old drillings usually go between 1,500.00-3,000.00 you cant build one for that and the engraveing alone would cost more.They are way underrated for price/value in my opinon but lots have seen hard use and ammo can be expensive and hard to find so inserts work well here,also the shot chambers many times are 2 1/2 in. and not the standerd 2 3/4 inch. we see here in usa for 16ga.ammo..The factory info is non-existant for most old german drillings.Many were guild built as well and have no makers name but are fine drillings just the same.Good luck and post pics if you can ...the old drillings are always interesting and many here can tell you more by seeing some proofs and markings..the date is on the bottom many times and will be something like- 05/25 for -may 1925 & 9.3x72R is the most common rifle bullet and sellier& bellot makes the ammo currently.also check out The drilling Hotline for ammo and old drillings for sale..& Suhl is a town in Germany where merkels are built today!
hope this helps... thumb
15 September 2006, 03:13
Rug
Thanks Guys 2-3k seems about right from the auctions I've seen. There is a lot of interesting stuff on the german gun links thanks again.