1926 German 16ga

[DeadElephant]

Just thought I'd show off my newest old shotgun.5001750019500215002350025

[Gunner]

Wow that's awesome

[Irving]

Lots of craftsmanship in that piece.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

That's sweet! Do you have the history you can share?

[ray1970]

Pretty.

[DeadElephant]

German guns of this time frame have proof marks which tell us a great deal.
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1926 was a very difficult time in Germany. Still recovering from WW1 and all the reparations that were imposed. This would be considered a "guild" gun by many but is not really an accurate term. the majority of gun makers in Germany within this time frame worked out of small shops attached to their homes. Most specialized in specific areas, tubes, barrel construction, stocks, engraving, etc. It wasn't so much a guild as a specialization of expertise. The small gun-maker would potentially build 6 guns a year.

From the markings we can make many very good guesses on the gun-maker:
The initials H.S. more than likely has a couple possibilities like H. Schilling, Helmut Schlegelmilch(who was Gebhard Helmuthhauser's grandson. Th Ks are likely Heinrich Krieghoff. He served a stint in Liege learning how to mechanically produce tubes right as WWI began and those tubes were sourced from Liege and brought to a near final state. Times were very difficult during the 1920s and makers would have used about anything they had at their disposal. Gebhard Helmuthhäuser saw his last days as a maker in the late 1920s or maybe it was the mid 1920s, anyway the HS just might be for Helmut Schlegelmilch.


The Star over H is either for Gebhard Helmuthhauser a Buchsenmachermeister employed by G.C./Carl Gottleib Haenel. I think the tubes had a 2nd proof series twice so the tubeset was surplus that was used again.

How it came to the US is unknown but it was most likely a "war prize" from WWII. I was never able to track back to the original owner.

[zteknik]

Now that is a work of art!!

[DeadElephant]

For those who were really observant yes the trigger guard is a bit unusual. The trigger guard is made from horn not metal. The horn would not conduct cold to the shooters hand as much as metal.