Scotty - thanks for checking. I vaguely recall hearing somewhere that Ziegenhahn was precluded from selling directly in the US as a condition of making Essencias for Krieghoff. I did come across something indicating that New England Custom Gun had at one point a relationship with Ziegehahn - I have a call into them to find out more.
B-Man - thanks for that information. So, was your gun a customized Essencia boxlock or something different? good catch about the through-lump, I had not noticed that. There was an interesting thread recently on the main DGJ forum about how through-lumps reflect on a gun's overall quality. Peter Hofer guns have them for whatever that is worth.
There are currently two new Essencias sidelocks for sale at Cabela's in the low $20k range - a great deal if your sofa has a lot of loose change. Neither gun quite matches my specs so I can't justify stretching my budget that far for a gun that is not a perfect fit.
