I was just wondering if any of you drilling afficionados have Collath drillings. I'm aquiring a pair of them & was curious how you like 'em. Do you get used to the odd opening & loading? They are interesting guns & appear very well made.

Never owned one, as the ones I encountered were in the proprietary rounds that were now obsolete. They were a curious gun, for sure, and well made. The design doesn't seem strong to me, but they are fun as hell to play with. After all, all these guns are just toys for us big boys.

They are actually very strong actions. Much stronger than the under or side lever "doll head" actions.
I've examined 20 or so of them, over the years, and never seen one that was the least bit loose. I've never even heard of one being worn or loose in spite of a lot of use, wear, and obvious abuse that some encountered. They were apparently pretty expensive drillings in their day as well. The round "nubs" extend into the rear of the chambers against the recessed case heads seal and lock everything up very tight. The later ones are in pretty good calibers. One of these is a 8X57JR and the other is 8X58R. Both have original 70mm shotgun chambers.

Greg,

I'm anxious to see your guns when they come and hear your comments. The workmanship in them has always drawn me to the maker, but as I said, I've only encountered a few, and they were in odd chamberings.

Also, I never saw one scoped. I'd be curious to see how that is done.

I hope to see your post with photos soon.

I'll be happy to share them as soon as they show up. Coming from a gunsmith friend in Europe. One is scoped with a period scope, in std Suhler type claw mounts. The other has claw bases.
I think many of the later ones were chambered for more readily accepted calibers to give them a better market.
Greg

THANKS!

I'm anxious to see the other one and get a report back on them.

Yes, I have one that was a war bring back. It is a 16x16x 6.5x52R. I have never fired it but I am going to this spring. Still seems to be very tight although I have no idea how many rounds it has seen. PM me if you want to swap more notes.

375er

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 375er:
Yes, I have one that was a war bring back.

A so called "liberated gun"!