A friend recently inhierited a 16 ga. German double barrel shotgun of very high quality, but unknown provence. We do that the the shotgun was liberated (stolen) in 1945. The gun has exposed hammers with regular firing pins and is chambered for 16 ga. Barrels are not damascus, and have what appear to be proof marks near the breech. Forend is the splinter type with metal removal lever. The gun opens with a large swinging arm, that swings under the trigger guard. Every piece of metal is beautifully engraved. Engraving includes what appears to be a coat of arms between the hammers. There is also a brass oval with the initials Y.M.V engraved in the bottom of the forend. The wood is extremely high quality. It almost has a "birdseye " quality. Only identifying marks I could find are on the rib and read HEINR BOHNER I FA FISHER & SOHN - LUBECK. My friend wants to refinish this gun and use it in the field. I advised him to wait a bit and see what we have here. Any and all input would be appeciated.

Need some pictures, especially of the proofmarks. Sounds like a nice gun. Urge your friend not to touch it. Take it or send it to a good double gunsmith to make sure it is safe (i.e. sufficient barrel thickness).

What Storm Said.

Especially if the gun has not been used recently there is a chance theat there is pitting in the barrels that may make them dangerous when fired. The only way of doing that is to lap the barrels out if they are pitted until there are no pits left then measure for safe thickness.

If you look at the prioof marks it will tell you length of chambers, and if the gun is black powder or nitro proofed. It will also tell you when the last proof date was and if that was areproof. If there is only one set of proof marks it is also the most accurate way to date the gun.

another test is to take the forend off and hold the gun from the pistol grip, shaking from side to side. If there is any movement then it willneed to be brought back onto face, (this is easy and most old guns need to be done).

Lastly if he takes the barrels and hangs them on a finger pointing down. when he flicks each barrel they should ring. If there is any buzzing then there is a problem either with the barrel soldering or if he gets the distorted noise when tapping the rib then the rib will need to be rejointed.

A competent gunsmith will be able to service the gun for him and advise on what needs doing.

Rgds,
FB

Thanks for the advice. I think our next step will be to send the double to a qualified smith for evaluation. Of course, finding an expert on European SxS doubles in the states may be problematic, but I'm sure there is somebody with the needed expertise.

Stoneybroke,

Send a mail to dig at vintage guns. He will be in the states in the coming months on a roadshow to look at some collections and value stuff for an upcoming auction. You may be able to either arrange to take the gun to him at one of his stops if you can wait or you could take some pics and email him. That way you can date the gun and see when it was last proofed.

Either way I'm sure you will find someone stateside that can tell you if it is safe or not. It really isn't too complicated, mostly it's a case of finding someone who has the tools to measure barrel wall thickness.

Rgds,
FB

Start with JJ Perdeaux at Champlin in Enid, Okla. He can probably help you or refer you to someone a little closer. You can also check with Doug Turnbull in NY state.