A Real Cute Little German Double Rifle - Chr . Pauli . Munster . - 11mm Mauser

Hello All,

I couldn't resist adding another Double Rifle to the collection. And this one is a real Cutie. The Caliber is close to / but not exactly - 11.15x60R (43 Mauser) This variation is ever-so-slightly shorter at the shoulder. The rifle weighs only 6 pounds 5 ounces with a 14-3/8" LOP over a checkered Horn Butt Plate. Top of the rib has Gold Inlay; "Chr. Pauli . Munster ." It has Back Action Locks with rebounding hammers, 26" Barrels w/ Gold Ring Inlays at the Breach. It has a Single Standing Rear Sight and a Gold Bead Front Sight. Both Triggers have "Set" features. It has a Horn Triggerguard and a Scalloped Horn Grip Cap. It is Overall Engraved with Game Animals and decorative Scrolls and Vines. There is an "EB" stamp and a "Punch Mark" on the Water Table and the bottom of the barrel block is stamped "A.W" with an 8-petal Flower along side. There are no other marks to be found - no serial number - no assembly numbers.

Thanks to information from Axel E, (an Expert from the German Gun Collector's Association) he remarked: "....the lack of BUG proofmarks, or even a crown/Vvorratszeichen, shows the rifle was made and sold before 1893. The rifle was retailed by Christian Pauli, Münster in Westfalia. Not much is known about Pauli, but the business was taken over from a Theodor Pauli by an Emil Harmann in 1914. The rifle was made for Pauli by Emil Barthelmes, Meininger Str. 11, Zella – Mehlis, founded 1854, existed at least to the 1920s. Their EB trademark is visible on the watertable. A.W is the mark of the barrelmaker. Unfortunately there were two barrelmakers with these initials active then in Zella –Mehlis: Albin Wahl, and Alfred Wilhelm. Your choice! The "Flower" is most likely a private proof or quality mark...."

"....I can not identify the cartridge from your description. In the "Good Old Times" nothing was standardized when it came to cartridge and chamber dimensions. Each gun - or ammo maker - had his own dimensions. Even country gunsmithes designed their own proprietary rifle cartridges, just different enough from the one offered by the competitor next door to preclude interchangeability. Thus the customer was bound to buy his cartridges at the same shop as he had bought his gun. There were umpteen variations of blackpowder/lead bullet cartridges on the M71 Mauser MB base with different shapes and nominal bullet diameters from 9.3 to 12 mm. An exact designation is most often futile, as the now common designations with bullet diameter x case length came into common use in the mid-1920s only...."

I swaged some 11mm half-jacket 370g bullets and loaded a dozen cartridges. I'll be heading to the range tomorrow to test this 125 year old Beauty.

Really great looking rifle.

A lot of work went into that gun.

How do you decide on a powder charge and what powder are you using?

Hello Fjold,

Thanks for the reply.

Several sources list the 11mm Mauser cartridge with loads using IMR4198. I have had rifles in this caliber in the past, and loaded 30g IMR4198 with a swaged 370g half-jacket bullet which gave about 1400fps. This is very close to the original 1870's performance of the cartridge. Hopefully this rifle regulates with this load. We'll see.

If the weather is OK today, I'll be testing this afternoon.

Beautiful

Aw geeezzz!!! Lovely rifle in a pretty darn good cartridge!! I am such a sucker for old German doubles. I hope your load workup goes better than mine did in my 11.15 X 60R German double. I finally got it to regulate but it took me 6 months of head scratching and experimenting.

quote:

Originally posted by sharps4590:
I hope your load workup goes better than mine did in my 11.15 X 60R German double. I finally got it to regulate but it took me 6 months of head scratching and experimenting.

Hello sharps4590

Thanks for the reply.

So, what load did you finally end up using in your rifle?

My rifle is some older than yours and built on a Lefaucheux action so probably not as strong as yours either. My problem was getting enough velocity to bring the barrels together. I ended up lightly duplexing a load using the Lyman 340 gr. bullet for the 11.15 X 60R. I know it is 5 grs. of SR-4759 under I believe 63 grs. of 3F. Lube is SPG with a card wad between the powder and bullet. When I finally got it to shoot 2 to 3 inches at 50 yards I decided I was satisfied. I never tried a straight smokeless load.

Very neat rifle! What would've been the intended quarry of such a rifle? I'm assuming boar sized game?

That little girl needs a better stick of wood....and checkering. She is gorgeous.

quote:

Originally posted by Brandon.Gleason:
Very neat rifle! What would've been the intended quarry of such a rifle? I'm assuming boar sized game?

Hello Brandon Gleason

Thanks for the rely.

Well, the engraving might be a hint. Right side shows a Hirsh (Red Deer) and a Wild Boar being chased by a Dog. Left side shows an Otter with a Fish in its mouth and some kind of Strange Cat with a fluffy striped tail.

UPDATE:

Well, I've finished my load developement. One nice thing about having bullet swaging dies is you can vary the bullet weight to obtain regulation.

I swage "half jackets" so I don't have to mess with bullet lube with these old calibers. I ended up a little lower in velocity than original Factory, but all-in-all I'm pleased with the results. As per the target, 3" high at 50 yds is dead-on at 100 yds. Not sure I'll get to test it on game this Fall.





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And .... I found out that the "Strange Cat with a fluffy striped tail" is actually a European "Wild Cat". And they are hunted.



From Wikipedia,
The European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) is the wildcat nominate subspecies that inhabits forests of Western, Southern Central and Eastern Europe.

That rifle is a stunner! Thanks for the info!

quote:

Beautiful

+1

Well,

This little rifle has gone right to the top of the list as being my "best shooting" double rifle. Here are the last 24 shots fired at 100 yards. Average group is slightly over 2" at 100 yards - with iron sights no less.


powder . gr ...... bullet .......... vel ...... notes ............... group ................. shots
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 2-1/2" & 2-3/8" @ 100 ..... 4
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 1-7/8" & 2-1/2" @ 100 ..... 4
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 3/4" & 2-1/4" @ 100 ........ 4
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 3-3/4" & 2-1/2" @ 100 ..... 4
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 2-1/4" & 1" @ 100 ........... 4
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 3-1/2" & 3-1/8" @ 100 ..... 4

quote:

Originally posted by buckstix:
Well,

This little rifle has gone right to the top of the list as being my "best shooting" double rifle. Here are the last 24 shots fired at 100 yards. Average group is slightly over 2" at 100 yards - with iron sights no less.


powder . gr ...... bullet .......... vel ...... notes ............... group ................. shots
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 2-1/2" & 2-3/8" @ 100 ..... 4
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 1-7/8" & 2-1/2" @ 100 ..... 4
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 3/4" & 2-1/4" @ 100 ........ 4
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 3-3/4" & 2-1/2" @ 100 ..... 4
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 2-1/4" & 1" @ 100 ........... 4
4198 .... 26 ... 343 HELM ..... 1205 ..... BEST ..... 3-1/2" & 3-1/8" @ 100 ..... 4

...and you're bragging about that sloppy shooting???

Thanks for sharing that lovely iron with us. It's a definite keeper.