doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Rifle info needed

Hi guys collected this gun today from an old guy who was given it by a friend who came out of the army, he moved house and it has been in the loft since 1953, I know plenty about shotguns but little about rifles, the barrels have bohler stahl which I believe is German re type of steel other markings are kmg n51 stamped on underside of the barrels are 19 on its own 5.6 339 with 77 underneath plus a faint proof mark most of action and mounts are engraved double triggered thanks in advance for any info on age value etc,

Hi
Just a thought - do you have this gun on a FAC. If it isn't of obsolete calibre - and someone with more knowledge than me may be able to tell you this - and it hasn't been deactivated you will be in possession of an illegal gun - which will have serious consiquences.
If in doubt hand it in to a freindly firearms dealer ASAP till you have sorted it out

Hi Old farmer I have an R.F.D as I specialise in finishing gun barrels either steel or damascus I know my stuff with shotguns but do not have much knowledge on rifles, the first thing I did with this was unload it !!! loaded since 53!

It appears to be a commercial Mauser from the 20s or 30s. Butterknife bolt handle. claw scope mounts etc. I have very, very limited knowledge of these but have seen and handled a few. Some have solid rib barrels and 3 leaf express typs sights. There are alot of people on this site with alot of knowledge of the commercial Mauser rifles and makers. By the way what caliber is it?

Is there a period or comma in the 339 as 33,9 for instance. Can't remember the metric designation exactly but 5.6 x 33.9 sounds very close to the old German Vierling round which was a sort of go between from the older .22 WCF to the later .22 Hornet. This was I believe a rather common round in Germany & chambered in many guns other than Vierlings.

Old Farmer;
What makes it Illegal?? What am I missing here, whats illegal about a bolt action sporting rifle?

Thats a relief - I heard of several people who have found an old gun in the loft not realising they were committing an offence by possesing it - I would not want to see someone tripped up just for the sake of mentioning it.
It looks a nice bit of kit - it looks a substancial calibre and do I see double set triggers? I bet it will shoot well as long as it wasn't left dirty all those years to rot the rifling!

2-piper
This is England we are talking about here!! To posses a rifle you have to have a Fire Arms Certificate for that specific calibre of rifle before you can acquire it - otherwise you are breaking the law and the penalties are severe. There are certain exceptions. I am not an expert but in brief - if it is of obsolete calibre - in other words you cannot readily buy ammunition for it - and the Home Office has list of them - you can posses them off certificate as long as you don't fire them. This only applies to originals and not reproductions. So all original muzzle loaders can be off ticket, as can pin fire and needle fire but as soon as you get into centre fire you have to be very careful it has been classed as obsolete. The problem arises quite frequently when someone dies and the relative find a war trophy in the loft and that was what I thought might have happened here. As long as the gun is handed to a registered firearms dealer then the situation can be dealt with at leisure - either the gun can be sold or if a relative has the authority to acquire that specific calibre he can take possession. It is all very complicated and very easy to get tripped up � and I may have some of the detail wrong!!.

Old Farmer;
I am with you now, I just failed take note it was in England even though I fully knew Barrel Browner was from there. I was thinking along US terms. Since it was a bolt action sporter & didn't appear "Sawed Off" or anything like that all I could think of which might make it illegal was if it turned out to be stolen & hid in the loft. In this case de-activating it would not render it legal. I can perfectly see where you were coming from now. Your points were indeed well made for the situation.

All I can add is Bohler is Austrian, not German. In modern shotguns it is the best.
bill