Since we are doing European weapons here, I've got one for you, bonus if you can ID the scope and caliber/Gauge. Just guessing what type of gun will get you a thumbs up, some of you Europeans will already know. Here's a clue on the caliber/gauge. The gauge is the most popular for the country of origin an type of weapon. The rimless version of the cartridge/caliber was made famous in the Spanish American war and by Walter Bell (for killing an astonishing 1011 elephants with it). The scope is made by a famous scope maker, also from the same country of origin.

Is this a Merkel or J.P. Sauer drilling? Barrels of 16 gauge over a 7X57mm rifle barrel? Or, is the rifle barrel for the rimmed version of that round, the 7X57mmR?

Is the 'scope a Zeiss, Hensoldt, or Nickel? It looks pretty modern.

Nice item. Can't wait to be sure just what it is.

BTW, I found a box of 7X65mmR ammo in a College Station, TX gun shop, so someone here must be using drillings or similar combo guns.

Close, the same guys that make barrels for Sauer make them for most of the old Drillings from Suhl. Saying a gun is made in Suhl is like saying a knife is made in Solingen. Just about everyone in Suhl makes Drillings, parts for Drillings, etc. etc. This one is made by an outfit named Fortuna-Suhl. 16 guage is right, no old timer German really uses 12s or 20s; 16 gauge is a perfect size compromise in a Drilling. One shotgun barrel is usually loade with a rifled slug and one with shot, so you can shoot deer, foxes, wild boar or elephants depending on your environment or target choice of the moment. That's the theory anyway. Some older Drillings use shorter chambers too, what we call the "2 1/2" or "2 9/16" chambers (65mm and 67.5mm). This one is a 70mm or the good ole' 2 3/4" chamber. Virtually all Drillings use a rimmed version of rifle cartridges, in this case the 7x57R (R for rimmed). Drillings don't work so well with rimless, although you see .30-06 ones more often, almost never in one this old. This old girl was built in 1963.

Nope and nope. It's made in the 1970s, and if you've heard of those guys, you've heard of them also, Schmidt & Bender. Better than Nickel, as good as Zeiss, and they still make scopes too, very good ones. This one does not have windage adjustments due to that special mount that the Germans love. That's another piece of trivia all of it's own!

7x65R is an outstanding cartridge, more powerful that 7x57 and about like a .270. The rimless is called 7x64 to keep confusion down as the 7x57R and 7x57 used to get mixed up back in the day (don't even get me started on how complicated 8x57 is, there's four of those!).

I know there's at least one Drilling in Texas. My grandad brought one back from Germany after WWII and I was supposed to inherit it. However, before that could happen, someone broke into my dad's house and relieved me of the responsibility of ever owning it, but I've been fascinated with Drillings ever since. I sure hope some drug dealer didn't saw the barrels off and keep it in his trunk. If so, I imagine old J.P. Sauer would be turning over in his grave.


I just traded an old Sauer (1936 made, pictured below) for this Fortuna-Suhl and can't wait to get it. Ironically, they had the same scope.



Even the old ones are expensive, and as they get nicer, engraved, newer, etc, etc they just go up and up on price. This one is nothing special except I really wanted 7x57R for hunting (I have two .30-06s) and didn't want to get out of control with cost. This one was kept in a safe and was a good deal; that wood looks near new. I would have kept that old Sauer, but it was the very old and rare 8x57IR and the shotgun barrels were 65mm chambered (2 1/2"), which all can be found over here in Germany okay, but not so much in sunny Texas where I'll end up one of these days.

Many Luftwaffe crews in North Africa were issued commercial grade drillings as survival weapons. I wonder how many of them were destroyed when the planes were shot down?

ECS

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