Original Meister

[yamoon]

Hello
I have a Schuetzen rifle marked Original Meister, it is nitro proofed in Oct 1928, has all the crown over marks, bore size, case length, etc. No proof house marks, it was 542 proofed in 28. It has a small oval with the letters JGA in it on the action, is this a makers mark? Is this action a Buchel Original Meister?
Thanks for any help.
Mike

[Steve Whitley]

Sounds like a J. G. Anschütz product. Photos available?
Steve

[mike ford]

yamoon,
The ledger number( 542) indicates that the rifle was proofed at Zella-Mehlis. Suhl did not mark the ledger number, at this time. Also, the word "nitro" should be written in script letters.
Mike

[yamoon]

Yes the word Nitro is in script.
Mike

[mike ford]

yamoon,
Since it has been more or less verified that the rifle was proofed in Zella-Mehilis, it was also, more than likely made in or near there. I believe J.G. Anschuetz was located there. This supports Steve Whitley's opinion that it was produced by them. Rifles like this were often made by one company and marketed by others, often without placing their own marks on them. This makes it difficult( or fun, depending on your point of view) sometimes to ID and track a rifle.
Mike

[yamoon]

Mike
Thanks for the information. I like the rifle & plan on having a mold made for it. It has a Swiss stock with thumb rest. I will post a photo.
Thanks Mike

[mike ford]

yamoon,
Check with Buffalo Arms, they might have a mold, and I'm sure they have proper bullets.
Mike

[Pentz]

I made a pound cast and bore slug for my Aydt. The pound cast yielded the chamber length for the case, and throat size necessary for gauging the stop ring (.325); the bore slug gave the dimensions for the nose and body of the bullet. I selected the basic design of the Accurate 32-182D L mold, and had Tom cut the mold to my specs for the case mouth (.317), stop ring (.325) and nose (.309). As photo shows, the nose engraves well when cammed into the throat by the stop ring on the mouth of the case. A hasty trip to the range yielded promising results. Don't waste money on mass-produced bullets.
Accurate SR Mold.jpg.94 target resized.jpg

[mike ford]

yamoon,
I don't compete with 8.15x46R, Pentz does, so his advice is better. His group speaks for itself.
Mike

[Axel E]

Sorry, Steve and Mike, but the model "Meister" = master was not a product of J.G.Anschuetz, but of the E.F. Buechel company, Zella-Mehlis. The Meister Action was invented by Cuno Büchel, who ran the company until his death in 1921. From 1921 to 1935 the company was run by a Richard Ansorg, then taken over by another Z-M gunmaker, Udo (not J.G.!) Anschuetz, another of the 86 Anschuetz listed as active in the Z-M guntrade. See Tom Rowe's "Alte Scheibenwaffen Vol.1", pages 331 -380, a book available from the GGCA bookstore.

[Steve Whitley]

And thus the "JGA" would be for what? Would love to see some photos.
Steve

[yamoon]

The Meister20131208_205353.jpg

[yamoon]

20160306_140319_resized.jpgAnother photo showing the JGA mark

[Steve Whitley]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2693[/ATTACH]Another photo showing the JGA mark

Thanks for the photos! That mark is UNQUESTIONABLY J. G. Anschütz and I can't imagine it being mistaken for anything else.
Steve

[Steve Whitley]

Here is the trademark as used on the cover of a prospectus for the DSM as produced by Anschütz (manufacturing rights from Mauser by contract). The initials were stacked vertically, sometimes in a circle and sometimes in an oval, as shown here. That said, I don't know how much the firm had to do with your rifle, but it certainly appears they had a hand in it somehow.
Steve

JGA logo.jpg