Would like to get info on a Drillings. Names on top of bbls are Eugen Amman and Rad Segeberg and on bottom of bbl is stamped StmG N 10Gr 7.8mm 57 1/28. Also stamped Nitro. This is a fully engraved example with fine woodwork. I have been unable to find info on its history. Thanks

whalestooth.....

Send me a couple of low resolution pics per PM. I'll see what I can do for you....

quote:

bbl is stamped StmG N 10Gr 7.8mm 57 1/28. Also stamped Nitro

StmG N 10 Gr.= Steel Jacketed Bullet Nitro 10 gramm (seems very light for that caliber) 7.8 57 = (8x57 Mauser) either .318" or .323" but 1/28 should equal January 1928 this would nmake it a .323"

Looks right but can't figure it out; especialy the name; Google makes it appear more Swiss than Teutonic.

It would be an 8X57JR, not a JRS, and you need to use .318" ammo. If you have the bore slugged, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts it will slug to .320"... "J" bore drillings were the norm right up to and during WWII. If it said 7.9 it would probably an "S" bore. Drilling makers almost always used "J" bores, as the round was loaded to lower velocities and pressures, much like the 375 FM was, compared to the 375 H&H belted magnum.

As this gun is relatively early, I can't see that it would be an "S" bore. You can load for it with 170gr .321 32Spl bullets if it slugs to .320" or .321".

Eugen Ammann is the name of the gunsmith who sold the gun, Bad Segeberg (Northern Germany) is the town.
Quite probably Mr. Ammann sourced the gun from one of the lesser gunmakers in the Suhl area (but theoretically it might be from Ferlach or Liege), or maybe he bought the unfinished parts and assembled/finished the gun.
You need to have the proof marks checked.
luv2safari is right about the caliber, the 8x57IRS (.323 bore) was only introduced around 1940.

Edit, after some reading:
the predominant 8 mm caliber in hunting rifles before WWII was .318. Yet there were some loads (and rifles) for the "S" bore of .323, but these were not designated properly. Correction came with a new proof law in 1939. Even my 1940 RWS Handbook calls all 8x57 rimless and rimmed loads "S", but this can't be true. This is corrected in an additional loose sheet naming the proper designations.
Examples for "S" bore are:
- the 8x68S, never available as .318
- the 8x64S and 8x65RS Magnum or Magnum Bombe loads
- some loads for 8x75S/8x75RS using the same bullets
- some 8x57S loads using a 10 gram "S" bullet

So if this drilling is regulated for a 10 gram bullet, there is a chance for an "S" barrel.
But in general it is wise to first assume .318 barrels in prewar German hunting rifles (especially break-actions) and to have the barrels slugged.
Fuhrmann

All the above is good info. Most likly a drilling from 1924 would be .318 but a lot of the makers of the time cut their barrels at .321.
The idea was that the rifle could handle ether ammo if there was ever a mix up.
I've owned a ouple over the years with .321 bores. Currently My old Merkel has .321 barrels but shoots .318 bullets very well.

All info above is correct, though it seems to contradict it's self in places. The name of the maker being Swiss, or any other sir name has nothing to do with the country of manufacture. I have several German made rifles, cape guns, and drillings made by H. Barella,which is an Italian name, who was a maker with a royal warrant as a maker to the royality of Germany, and opperated in Berlin. The discrepincies are the reason a lot of very fine German arms were re-bored, and re-chambered to an american cartridge with an American bore size.

If you are lucky the rifle barrel will slug out to be .323,, but I have a feeling it will turn out to be a .318 bore (8X57JR) If this is the case, some very good loaded ammo is made by Sellier & Bellot, loaded with 196 gr soft point bullets, and is very reasonably priced. It shoots well in all my 8X57JR rifles, and is a Muledeer, elk, and black bear killer!

If it turns out to be .323 JRS dia, it is still a flanged cartridge, and cases, and loaded ammo are available!