doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Pieper DOB

Good morning all. I'm having trouble figuring out a 'born on' date for this 16 Ga. Also what is Rado Budapest, the retailer of the gun? Any help or additional info on it is appreciated.



http://i841.photobucket.com/albums/zz333/klode_bucket/20131120_170703.jpg

http://i841.photobucket.com/albums/zz333/klode_bucket/20131120_170334_8_bestshot.jpg

http://i841.photobucket.com/albums/zz333/klode_bucket/20131120_165637_HDR.jpg

http://i841.photobucket.com/albums/zz333/klode_bucket/IMG_20131120_110545_822.jpg

Not there?
Hmmm???

http://damascus-barrels.com/Belgian_All_Proofmarks.html

The gun was made between 1905 and 1924. The reason for 1905 as earliest date is that Anciens Establishment Pieper was founded that year. It is nitro proofed. By the way Herstal is across the street from Liege.

http://damascus-barrels.com/Belgian_All_Proofmarks.html

From what I can tell, RADO is a watch company in Hungary.


It appears to be a nice gun in very good condition that was made for export. That pistol grip is very interesting. I wonder if it was a later enhancement?

Pete

I agree on the grip. It is beautifully laid over the original checkering from very closely matched wood. While not uncomfortable, a previous owner must have had massive hands.

Any guesses on value? Also interesting are the 3" chambers, and I cannot even get my choke gauge started into muzzles.

P.S. All letters on the flats and barrels have a star over them which would designate controller's codes, would they not?

That should be true. Pre-1924, we can not associate a Controller to a code, as the Proof House has lost all of those records. Partly to due to a flood, mostly to war.

Pete

In the bottom pic on left side appears to be 70/18.9. This should be 70mm chambers having a diameter of 18.9mm just inside the rim seat. This translates to 3 3/4" chambers with Daimeter of .744" which sounds correct for a 2 3/4" chamber. Have you measured them at 3"??

Just re-measured at 2 7/8" to the bottom of the rim seat. It does seem long to me too. even second guessed my gauge with Dr. Drew's 3 X 5 card method. Perhaps a rookie running the chamber bore?

Or some one took a chamber reamer to it when they finished the pistol grip.

Miller is correct about the chamber and bore stamps.

See if there is a series of numbers like 1.XXX on the barrels. That would be the weight in kilograms at time of proof. If you weigh the barrels you may find them on the light side, a sure indication of a reamer.

I went back to my source material. From an old catalog, this appears to be a Model 375. I wouldn't bet my pay on it, but is as close as I can id it.

Pete