It may well be a Suhl frame but the finished product still whispers "Ferlach" to my ears. Lack of indicators is yet another indication in this direction.
As I see it, one possibility is that it was made for a high ranking Allied (British?) officer in occupied Ferlach, possibly circa 1947, before the formal production was restarted (circa 1948?). He could afford to skip the formal proofing - if it was operative at that early date at all.
Jani:
I hadn't considered that but I do know of a couple instances up into the 1960s where a couple cartons of cigarettes, a Russian machinegun barrel and a Mauser action, could get you a finished rifle as well as re-fitted/retro fitted examples going back to the U.S. of A. "somehow skipped the proofhouse stage". I will concur that it has elements of a Ferlach example but still I think the resemblence reverts back to a Suhl origin. But then again I am not at all familiar with the occupation of Austria.
I think it was in Mr. Cate's book that a Sauer example in the 380k range was made for General Curtis Lemay in early 1950, but it wears proofmarks.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
