Meffert Schutzen Rifle

[otto nebel]

I received the following information from feuerbixler- Biggi regarding her analysis of the three engraved shooters and will share it here, with her permission.

"In my opinion, these are not family faces or famous shooters of the time. It was not common to have famous shooters engraved on your rifle.
A good engraver always had a few templates for the customer. The customer could then choose which motifs he would like to have engraved.
At that time, around 1880, it was not yet common for people to have photographs of their relatives. Only very rich people had them. That's why I think they were very common standard motifs. But they do represent something, namely three different types of shooters that existed in the German Empire at the time.

1) An older gentleman from Germany, as was customary in the large shooting societies. With hat, feather and good traditional marksman's jacket.
2) A younger marksman from the Alpine region (southern Germany, Bavaria and Austria), with a twisted moustache. He wears a typical South German hat.
3) A Prussian marksman, probably with a military background. From Prussia (region around Berlin) or the North German states (on the North Sea, Hamburg region). He wears a typical cap and a Bismarck beard.

So I think these portraits are just meant to show the variety of typical shooters from all over the German Empire.

I hope it was helpful what I see in the rifle-engravings.

Greetz from Bavaria
feuerbixler-Biggi

A special thanks to all the GGCA members who contributed to this discussion.
I hope that you enjoyed the photos and discussion as much as I did.
Otto

[chapmen]

I fully agree with Biggi, it is absolutely similar to my thoughts.

[otto nebel]

As indicated previously, the stock had some major breaks.
wanted to save as much of the original stock as possible but also wanted a stock strong enough to shoot.
The first step was to remove most of the stock damage. The cut was made along the back checkering line.
The cross section photo shows many small nails but little glue, from the previous repairs.
The major damage is shown in the three photos.
Otto

[otto nebel]

A donor piece of wood, similar to the original stock was chosen. A through bolt hole was drilled through the original stock and replacement piece. The grafted piece was epoxied in place and held together by the through bolt. The action was inletted and a dowel placed across the graft line, when the through bolt was removed. The repaired stock was shaped to its original configuration. The stock was stained and finished. It's currently being checkered, using the original checkering pattern as a guide.
One thing seems to lead to another. I decided to remove the barrel and give it a good cleaning, before deciding whether to rust blue it.
Otto

[otto nebel]

After cleaning the barrel, I was surprised to find that the engraving at the breech had inlays.
I decided to add a caliber engraving and matting to the top flat.
Rust blueing completed the metal work.
Assembly and test firing will await completion of the checkering

I know that it's a long shot but does anyone know who might have done the engraving and inlay work for Meffert in the late 1800's

Otto