doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com Gerhard Schilling combo gun

And if trademarks are so easy to identify, is this August Schüler's work¿¿¿ There's a trademark fore & aft of his name plus it bands the serial number on this >>On-Hand<< August Schüler in 1893¿¿¿


Hochachtungsvoll,

Raimey
rse

Raimey,
I suggest you read my remarks carefully, I did not say it is impossible to identify touchmark initials. I said it is difficult or impossible to do so. Also, I didn't say it is easy to identify trademarks, since there are directories of trademarks, I said they can be. If the B.M. (in script) is in a trademark directory, it is identified thereby. If it is not in a trademark directory and there is no touch mark directory, then it is difficult to identify. I would be astonished to learn there is only one possible identification for a B.M. (in script), considering all the German given names starting with B and family names starting with M. Also, I can believe some trademarks are not shown in some directories, so would not be easy to identify.
Mike

As I re-iterate, it was merely a quick conjecture of mine, and might very well be wrong. However... the one and well-known Gerhard Schilling, who died only in 2019, the last scion of the Schilling Forge, was born in 1923. If one speculates that the BBF might be his Gesellenstück, he would have assembled and finished it at only 17 years of age.
And those who are familiar with the old crafts system in Germany, will know that apprenticeship could and indeed often would be entered right after the Volksschule, at 14 years of age (in early modern times, even younger). Three years were the minimum for promotion to journeyman.
It is indeed conceivable that old Ernst Schilling, his father who produced many if not most of the forgings for the Suhl area gunsmiths, wanted his son to properly learn a trade or craft (in fact, THIS very trade) as a suitable base, before he would eventually hand over the forge to him. Sounds reasonable.

Also, a BBF from pre-produced unfinished Gesteckteile would be quite a typical demand for a Gesellenstück. Less hassle and quicker to assemble than a Drilling. Even today, such could be a common exam demand.

Carcano