Info - 20 Ga Hammer Gun

[Herbert]

I have a beautiful little German hammer gun in 20 ga and I am looking for any additional info/history on the gun, The proof marks are unfamiliar to me.

The rib is marked "Simson & Co Suhl Waffenfrabiken". The gun is in excellent condition and looks new.

I have seen a few Simson box-locks but never hammer gun

Any info will be appreciated.











Thanks

[Herbert]

Additional pics....

[Herbert]

Additional pics...

[Herbert]

additional pics....

[germanguns1234]

This is interesting considering the Austrian (Prague?) proof marks.

[Axel E]

At the time this shotgun was made, around WW1, all major Suhl gunmakers offered the whole range of different guns. The words:" Sorry, but we don't make such a thing, you have to go next door." was unknown. What they did not make themselves they farmed out or simply bought in from the guntrade. But hammerguns such as yours were offered by everyone.
Your gun has seen several proofhouses several times, not unusual for guns coming out of Czechia. The German proof was not accepted, neither by Austria nor by post-WW1 Czechoslovakia. So German guns had to be proofed there anyhow. Either the German proofmarks were carefully removed on your gun, or it was sold as "parts" to an Austro-Hungarian dealer who submitted it for proof. Apparently post-1918 Czechoslovakia had a law that required visits to a proofhouse, either on change of ownership or after some timespan. one of these reproofs must have been for the conversion from 20-65 = 20 2 1/2" to 20-70 = 20 2 3/4". Let us sort out the proofs visible in your photos: The "EF", the double eagle with 1, the crowned crest shield and the inscription "Nicht für Kugel" (not for ball, that is choke bored) are pre-1918 marks of the Ferlach, Austria proofhouse. Czechia then was still a part of Austria. Then we have a Czech lion with a 2, in use by the Weipert proofhouse from 1919 to 1931 and the same time Czech translation JEN PRO BROKY. Then there is another, slimmer Czech lion, the N in shield. These are 1931 on nitro proofmarks of the Prague proofhouse. Last we have at least four proofhouse ledger numbers in the Austrian-Czech tradition, not all clearly legible in the photo. In these numbers the last digits, after the dot, stand for the year of proof. 4454.25 seems to have been the original Ferlach ledger number, altered in 1925.
The Krupp Essen stamp on the outside merely advertizes the source and quality of the barrel steel.

[mike ford]

There is an interesting discussion about this same gun on Doublegunshop BBS. It shows tell-tale signs of having had the barrels resleeved. A band of engraving covers the joint in the barrels, as would be typical in a resleeve job. Normally, the barrel flats would be polished bright, but these don't seem to be-another sign. Resleeving would have required one of the reproofs.