Question: German Drilling Engraver

[JT Kinney]

Hello to All,

I hope everyone is having a Great Weekend. I need some help identifying the engraver of this fine German Drilling. The maker is Rich Knopf of Shul, German and it was made in the 1940s. It is chambered 16 x 16 bore over a 7x57 rifle.

Does anyone have any idea who the engraver may be ?

Many Thanks In Advance for Your Help,

JT

 

[Weldon47]

JT,

It may be tough to identify the engraver of this fine piece of German engineering. It looks to me to be quite representative of the routine work done during that period of time and is probably the work of an apprentice or journeyman and not the work of a Master engraver (I could be wrong). The book "Waffen Gravuren" has profiles on a number of engravers from that locale & would likely be of some help. In the end I believe you will still be wondering who did it. Perhaps Roger Bleile will chime in with some info.

I should add that it looks like a Blitz action drilling which is a pretty complicated piece of equipment. Three barrels & two triggers, lots of small parts & a headache to reassemble. When they are together & working they are marvelous!! Some years back I had one of these in 16x16 over 8x57JR (mine was a Greifelt). When I got it the stock was broken right behind the action & the left "ear" (the thin part of the wood that wraps around the blitz action) was broken off and missing. Eventually I restocked it (a major pain in the ^&%$) and did a total refurb on it. That was the last time I undertook such a project!
Weldon

 

[John B.]

Hi JT.
Very nice functional gun and a handy piece to own and shoot. They are lots of fun.
Just a nice working shooter but I agree with Weldon, not the work of a German master.
The single line scroll on the forend metal and the wood to metal finish indicate that.
Although it's not an example of top end German work it's a great piece for the hunting field.
Best,

 

[JT Kinney]

Hi Weldon, and John,

Thank You for Your input on this firearm. I agree it is fun to shoot, and a real conversation piece. I more than likely will never know the engraver, but that is really OK, I just enjoy having one of these fine German Drillings.

Hope you both had a Great Weekend,

JT

 

[Roger Bleile]

J.T.,

You have a nice looking drilling there. I will mostly concur with Weldon's assessment about who engraved your gun. I believe it is the work of a journeyman engraver who was most likely an outworker in Suhl. The smaller Büchsenmacher (as gunmakers are known in Germany and Austria) did not have high enough production to employ full time engravers in house so would send the parts down the street to an engraver who worked for a variety of gunmakers. These pre WWII engravers were trained in a very strict apprenticship system that did not stress individual artistic expression but rather adherence to established standards. It was also rare for them to sign their work because the gunmaker didn't want any name on the gun but his own. For this reason it is very difficult to tell one German or Austrian engraver's work from another if the engraver was trained before WWII. Post WWII some engravers became well known in their own right with customers requesting signed work. Today outworkers still work for gunmakers in Suhl, Ferlach, Styer, Liege, Gardone, and the UK.

I have attached three pictures of guns that may have been engraved by the same hand as your gun but if not you can see the distinct similarity. The engravers are unknown to me. The makers, from left to right are Cesinger, Emil Kerner, and Krieghoff.

CRB

 

[JT Kinney]

Hello Roger,

Thank You for taking time to help with this search The examples you have provided really are great. :yes

Thanks Again,

JT