otto seelig guns

[richard adamson]

I have been looking at a drilling in 16 guage/ 9.3x72r by Otto Seelig of Wiesbaden. Can you give me any information about him and his gun's reputation?

[mike ford]

Rick,
Otto Seelig is a known name. He dealt in good workmanlike guns. Of more concern is the condition of the particular gun. Especially, be sure the ribs are tight.
Mike

[Axel E]

Otto Seelig, Grosse Burgstrasse 8, Wiesbaden, called his business "gundealer and gunsmith to the Court (some princely one)". Existed at least from 1905 to the 1930s. Specialized in target rifles. He probably bought in most of his stuff from Suhl and Zella-Mehlis, like nearly all others. So any gun bearing his name may be a really fine example or a quite ordinary one, as he certainly tried to cover both ends of the market.

[ellenbr]

It would seem that there were at least a couple of Waffenhändler Seeligs as a Seelig is listed from the early 1860s on possibly to now. During the very early 1900s up till WWI, target competition winner listings will have a "Seelig, Weimar" and I assume that to be the Seelig we are chasing. During the same time period, around 1907/1908 Otto Seelig filed for DRMG - Gebrauchsmuster 310654 "Vermittels Federn und Stellstift durch einen Druckhebel automatisch betätigter erhöhbarer Kolbenteil an Gewehren Otto Seelig - Wiesbaden, Grosse Burgstraße 6", where he collaborated with some cat named Waffenmeister Stricker of Groß- Lichterfelde. I think it was similar to the Sauer design below:


Verstellbare Kolbenbacke für Fernrohrbüchsen von JP Sauer & Sohn

As Axel E. notes he peddled target pistols as well as rifles and must have been quite the shot himself. He didn't have time to make weapons as he was competing and selling his wares in the same event.


He is also listed as some ordinary member of the Nassau?(Nassauischen) Nature group during this period. But as with all HofBüchsenmachers, it seems that he acquired his title much earlier in the 1860s as a Seelig is found in a Royal Prussian Order list to be sourced I assume. If this is the same Seelig, his title was dubbed from the court centered around the beim 2. Westfälisches Husaren Regiment Nr. 11, http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/2._West...egiment_Nr._11 , in 1862/1863 or possibly a bit earlier. He did peddle upper rung sporting weapons using the vague Westfälisches Husaren Regiment, which I consider to be just fluff, by souring the very talented pool of craftsmen in Suhl and the Zella Sankt Blasii-Mehlis area. He also peddled DRs with the very Robust actions like Ideal, etc.


Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse