I have a nice hammer drilling bearing the engraving "G. Weidner, Plauen" on its rib. (Gun was proofed in 1904)

I have done searches on teh web & found mention of other guns bearing this same marking (one had "Gustav Weidner, Plauen").

I believe this is the name of a gun dealer, not of an actual manufacturer.

Have any of you seen this marking before ? Does anyone know any info about this man ?

I am very interested in hearing anything about this person - please comment !

Many thanks !

There have been so many Buchsenmacker in the last 106 years, of course some of them won't survive the imortality of there own guns.

There are a few things you can surmise about this gun given the age and where it came from.

Plauen is only 65 miles from Suhl so I would assume there is a direct connection there. I might guess this maker apprentaced in Suhl and went on to what may well have been his home town or maybe his wifes hometown to set up his shop.

It would also be reasonable to assume that his guns were built on forgings from Suhl and quality and style would be similar for the time.

What caliber is the rifle barrel? The great majority were chambered for 9.3x72 but many other cals were availble as well.

I would also assume it is a 16x65mm shot barrels if not I would be curious what it is.

Thank you so much for your reply !

Yes, the rifle barrel is chambered for 9.3 x 72R, and the shotgun barrels are 16 ga., 65 mm.

It's a "tiny" gun - shotgun barrels are not very "beefy" - nor is the rifle barrel. I shoot RST brand shells in it (light smokeless loads which develop an average pressure of 5300 psig). I tried (in a pathetic effort) to shoot the rifle barrel by filling the cases with 3F black powder & using a rubber mallet to "seat" a 158 gr. lead bullet designed for the 38 Special (0.358 dia. - approx.). This crude method resulted in very large groups at 50 yards, but the bullets cut nice round holes - no keyholing or bullet instability was noted.

The set trigger is so light - I would not risk using it in the field (with gloves on).

Lovely engraving on everything (receiver, trigger guard, bullet trap, back action locks, and forearm hardware). Nice walnut stock with cheek piece & some "striping" to the grain. Horn grip cap & buttplate. Wood is checkered, but it's not the best checkering I've seen. Selector on the tang to actuate teh rifle firing pin "extension" & the rear sight (in the rib). Selector reads "Kugel" in gold letters when activated. I put a nice braided leather German-made sling on it, and it's a dream to carry ! The shotgun barels are quite pitted, but haven't blown up yet... With the forearm removed, there is the slightest movement between the barrels & the standing breech face of the reciever. The barrels "ring" properly.
I hope it's OK to still use this gun - at least for ocasional hunts...

I found mention (on-line) of a C-96 Mauser pistol bearing the engraving "Gustav Weidner, Plauen." Obviously, he didn't make that gun - could it be that he was only a dealer & marked guns make by others (from Suhl) ?

Any more info on that guy or comments on the gun, it's "shootability" or any rifle load recipes would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks again !

(Akshooter - where are you located ?)

A small village like Plauen seems like a strange place for a dealer but it's certanly not out of the question. I guess he could be an engraver who also was a gunmaker that might explane the engraved Mauser but I doubt it.

My guess on the Mauser would be that he marked it under his name after extensive customizing and engraving.

I'm from Alaska

I guess it'll be almosts impossible to find out much more... It sure would be neat to know more about this gun (and this person) & how it ended up here in the U.S. (Probably a G.I. "war trophy" - I guess.)

Thanks !

These folks, collectively, are pretty knowledgeable.

http://germanguns.com/

Most probably G. Weidner had a local gunshop in Plauen.
Maybe he made the whole gun (rather improbable), maybe he bought the key parts in Suhl and finished the gun, maybe he bought the finished gun from one of the many shops or factories in Suhl.
In any case he had his name engraved on he rib, a very common practice then.

Fuhrmann

Thank you, Conifer and Fuhrmann.

I have contacted the German Gun Collectors Assoc. They essentially said the same things mentioned here (they never heard of this person).

Do any of you know if it was common to build these guns "light ?" Most shotguns I've seen have at least 0.150" barrel thickness at the front end of the chamber - this thing is lucky to have approx. 0.085" !

But it shoots well with the 3/4 ounce RST loads I mentioned previously...

Drilling Guy

I cannot tell about the light construction.
In 1904 this gun may have been built (and proofed) for smokeless powder, then I would presume a sturdy construction.
But I may have also been built with black powder in mind.


Fuhrmann

The gun was proofed twice (1904 and 1905). My guess is that it was proofed for black powder in 1904, and then for smokeless in 1095. The underside (flat area) of each shotgun barrel bears the typical proofs (but no nitro proofs). The tiny "Crown N" nitro proofs appear on the sides of the barrels (at the breech), next to the service load info (one ounce of shot, and (if memory serves) 24 graains of Shultze powder.
My Parker shotguns are much "beefier" - but I guess that's common for US-made guns of that era - possibly due to us not having a national proofing house.

I would like to shoot the rifle barrel - but I'm guessing that this may accelerate wear at the hinge pin - perhaps even more so than the shot barrels (due to almost 3 times the chamber pressure)...
I'll just not use it too
much - but I can't bear to completely retire it to the closet...