binko:
My eyes seem to want to see at least one Sauer "Caveman" logo(1882 trademark w/ registration No. 2), especially on the lower side. And being pure conjecture, the serial number 25721 could possibly fall in the 1890-1893 date range but the Sauer serial numbers aren't truly sequential or linear with respect to time and the longarm could have been manufactured a few years later to concide with the D.R.G.M. number, which narrows the date to a finite time span. I guess I'm a little partial to Sauer and everytime I see a serial number I want to think it's a Sauer. The other mark could be a "Caveman" also, but with 1 pic I can't see it just yet. So, look for a "Caveman" with a "staff".
Regarding cases, Steven Meyer provided me with this site,
http://huntingtons.com/cases_horneber.html , for 8X57R-360, but I haven't taken the time to order any just yet.
I did find another exception to the thought that the plug gauge stamp ceased in 1910 which is a Buchel Konkurrenz(competition) longarm by Hans Lechner proofed/proved in March, 1916 with the "172.28" stamp. So as always there were exceptions to the rule. And I also failed to note that 2-piper was correct in that the Zella-Mehlis proofhouse adopted new rules on September 1, 1911 and I believe this was when they began tube dating.
Here's a Sauer Drilling with the "Caveman" with a "Staff" stamp between the Imperial Eagle and "Nitro" stamps at the top on the scattergun tubes. 3rd row of pics, 2nd pic from Cabelas at:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/conten...erarchyId=11653 . The stamp I was referring to was a little smaller and had a more portly caveman.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
