Austrian hammer cape gun

[Tom H.]

I found this the other day. I did a bit of research and came up blank as to maker. It is a well built cape and it shoots well with the bonus of a common calibers. If I have it right it is a 1955 gun.

Tom

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[sharps4590]

Interesting. Certainly appears to have a Ferlach proof but then it also has the Belgian Peron(sp)

[Axel E]

This Büchsflinte is much older than you think. It was originally made in Liege, Belgium and was retailed by J.Farka, a gunshop in Reichenberg. Reichenberg was a city in northern Bohemia with an 80% German population up to 1945, when all Germans were eliminated from Czechoslovakia.. Since 1919 the city was renamed Liberec, Czechia. Much later the gun was converted, rebarreled, sleeved or lined, by Franz Schmied, "house number" 50, Ferlach, to 20g 2 ¾" and .222 Rem. As I read the Ferlach proofhouse ledger number as 3756.66, it was proofed there in 1966.

[algmule]

Hello

Josef Farka - Prager Gasse No. (not known to me), Reichenberg. He is mentioned as ”Büchsenmacher” in 1892. As “Büchsenmeister” in 1910, peddled wares out of a “Waffenladen”. In 1908 he participated in “Schützengesellschaft Reichenberg’s diesjährige Frühjahrsschießen” (second place).

Peter

[Tom H.]

Thank you.
That is interesting. I had misread the 66 as a 55 (The shotgun is 28ga) I wonder how it originally started life and the rational for the change to the current combination. The overall quality is high, but it explains why the forend iron on the rifle side had a slightly different fit against the barrel by the knuckle.
The fitting of the barrels are excellent, but they are less ornate than the receiver as well, as are the scope bases
So it was a Liege gun, engraved in Bohemia, and rebarreled and scoped in Ferlach in the 60s.

And somehow it ended up here.

[mike ford]

Tom H.
I don't know the rational for the 28 ga.(I can't tell from the photos if the action is wide enough for a larger shell), but at the time the conversion was made, 222 Remington was popular in Germany and likely Austria for hunting Reh ( Roe deer).
Mike

[Tom H.]

Hey Mike.
I don' think that the action would work with a 20ga. The wall diameter in the chamber is .125 .
Did not know that the .222 was popular for Reh. I did fire a round from the 28 and the pattern at 25yds is excellent.
I still have to get some lighter loads and try it on a few clay birds.
The rear sight is relatively low and becomes invisible when it is pointed as a shotgun. I have always been distracted by the rear sight on cape and combo guns while shooting trap.

I can't find the link to the proofs; what is the V* and is it possible that 619 on the receiver is the original sn.?

Tom

[mike ford]

Tom,
Before the war, there were several popular calibers used especially for Reh in areas where larger game was not likely to be encountered ( examples- 6,5x48/58R, 6.5x52R, 6.5x70R, etc.).
The German hunters were required to "give all guns up", and most complied. This resulted in a lack of suitable rifles, when their rights were returned. At the time, the 222 Rem. was fairly new and was being well received for it's accuracy, was available in American made rifles while the European gun industry was rebuilding, and happened to be perfectly useable for Reh. It became very popular and later the newer 222 Rem. Mag. was also well received. The pre war 5.6x52R( 22 Savage HP) was in a similar position and was pretty popular as well. When the European gun industry began producing guns again, they made many in these popular American calibers. In the late 1960s to mid 70s, the .223 and 5.6x50/ 5.6x50R started to displace the .222/222Mag.
I don't believe the *V is an actual proof mark, I think it is a makers ID, Axel and/or Raimey may have the key. It is with the Belgian markings. I think the 619 is the serial number, but there is not a lot of information that can be gleaned from it.
I hope some of this is correct.
Mike

[Axel E]

*V is the personal mark of a Liege proof inspector. Such marks, letters with* were in use there from 1877 - 1968. They are part of the Liege proofmarks.

[Tom H.]

I found a few things herehttp://www.hunting.be/wp-content/upl...roof-Marks.pdf

Macon Isidor (1929-1953). If he was the inspector, than Farka must have been near the end of his career as per the info that Peter (thank you) added above.

[Axel E]

Tom, Isidor Macon was proof inspector from 1929 on. But your Büchsflinte was made and sold by Farka before 1919, more likely before 1914. That list does not show inspectors who used the *V mark pre-WW1.

[Tom H.]

Thanks Axel. I reread the post regarding the name change of Reichenberg and the associated date.
Thanks for the correction.

Tom

[algmule]

Hello

Tom,
here's what I found on Büchsenmacher Josef Farka, Reichenberg:
first found him in Pragergasse 24 in 1887, and then a gap (part from what I've posted earlier) until 1895 on the same address;
then I have him in Giselagasse 14 (1904, 1905, 1906, 1907 and 1917);
the last years of his life he seems to have spent on the address Hablau 14 (1920, 1923 and 1927) and 1927 is the last year he uses the title Büchsenmacher. In 1928 he is Josef Farka, priv. in/on Hablau 14. In 1930 there's a widow Emma Farka on/in Hablau 14.

EDIT: Josef Farka passed in 1928.

Kind regards
Peter

[Old No7]

Having been there with him (but having no German license), my friend near Ulm, Germany regularly uses his .222 on fox, as does his wife and their friends -- when they're not boar hunting, that is...

I've never heard them mention using the venerable Triple Deuce on Roe Deer, but then again Mein Deutsche ist nicht so gut.

Waidmannsheil.

Old No7

[mike ford]

Old No 7,
Since your friend had Boar on his revier , if he hunted Roe with a 222 there and a pig came, he couldn't shoot. This would even be true if a frishling smaller than a Roe came. I mentioned above that the 222 was popular for Roe where large game was not likely.
Mike