J. Jentzsch

[Steve Whitley]

Has anyone heard of this maker or dealer from somewhere in Thüringen? The name has been seen stamped on an unusual air rifle and also on the forward lip of the receiver of an Erma .22 rifle? Any information would be appreciated!

Steve

[Steve Whitley]

May have been a Waffenhandler somewhere near the Dresden area, also? The family name is fairly common in that area.

[Axel E]

Have the address only of a country gunshop, but this was Hugo Jentsch, Gerichtsstrasse 3 in Greiz. Greiz is a small, 21000 inhabitants, county town in sout-eastern Thuringia, close to the Saxonian border. There may be a relation?

[Steve Whitley]

Thanks, Axel. Not sure if there is a relation or not. This is the mark as it appears on the Erma barrel flange; it is the same as observed on air rifle barrels.
Steve

[Axel E]

It's simply the ERMA trademark. ERMA = Erfurter Maschinenfabrik B. Geipel, later Erfurter Mascinen- und Werkzeugfabrik GmbH, Rudolfstrasse 49a, Erfurt, founded 1923, making and marketing of pistols , insert barrels, air- and small bore guns. In 1938 Heinrich Vollmer of ERMA designed the MP 38/40 submachine gun, mistakenly called the "Schmeisser" by Americans, though Hugo Schmeisser was not involved. Schmeisser was the designer of the WW1 MP 18, the first true submachine gun.

[Steve Whitley]

Yes, I am very, very familiar with Erma and Berthold Geipel. It is only the J. Jentzsch, as marked on the barrel flange of this particular Erma DSM 34, that I am hoping to find information on.
Steve