Gustloff Werke Waffenwerk Suhl
Here is a
classic 12-gauge shotgun with juxtaposed-barrels, made in Germany, "war"
manufacture since it was marked 1940 (according to the owner, see also below);
the concordance of the but is not perfect, and/or the gun has suffered... On the
contrary, the guns are in relatively good condition on the outside, perhaps they
have been bronzed during their lifetime.
Markings
ST:
Unidentified; these two letters are not in harmony with the whole rifle...
N under
eagle: first test
M under
eagle: second proof ?
G:
probably Gustloff
12 in a
circle (if I see correctly): almost certainly the caliber
70 mm:
the length of the casing
Gustloff
Werke Waffenwerk Suhl: in fact the “new” name of the famous Simson Company of
Suhl, founded in 1856 by the two Jewish brothers Löb and Moses Simson. It became
BSW Berlin Suhler Waffen in 1936 and then Gustloff Werke Waffenwerk Suhl in
1939.
BXIII
(?): not identified.
Fluss
Stahl Krupp – Essen: type of steel produced by Krupp in Essen
840 :
according to the attached site, it should be the date : 8 for the month of
August, 40 for 1940 of course.
It should
be noted also and above all the presence on this second weapon (caliber 16) of
"funny buttons" next to the holes of the firing pin which of course ask a
"problem".
At first,
we thought of off-centre percussion firing pin, but this does not hold up
because as far as we know, in 1940 there were no hunting cartridges with annular
percussion (in any case, an annular percussion cartridge is – almost –
incompatible with modern powders; see also at the end of this leaflet).
In a
second phase, we thought of a system to properly orient the cartridge, but we
did not find any cartridge requiring such a system, very random indeed.
In the
end, two members of the team suggested a system to avoid percussion in avoid,
thus triggering the trigger of a chamber without a cartridge, which is not good
for a percussion, it is well known. That’s probably the right explanation, even
if it’s very convoluted.
There is one last possible clue: "On the other hand,
if this rifle was shipped to the USA after the war (1945 et seq.), this
transformation (editor's note: into annular percussion) could be justified,
although...
The only known ring percussion cartridges are
the 20 Gauge Ballard "short and long cases" and the 16 Gauge Ballard. No 12
Gauge rimfire cartridges appear to have been manufactured.
No period catalog, study, or serious book
reveals the existence of a 12 Gauge rimfire." This is what an ammunition expert
tells us. This would involve the use of reduction tubes. But this last lead
seems very unlikely.
GP with the help of MAX, DZ and FL.
