I am very pleased to become a member of this community.
Willkommen in diesem Forum ! Du wirst feststellen, dass es - immer noch - einen kleinen und sehr kompetenten Anteil frankophiler Poster hier gibt, Fab500 und Argo44 haben sich ja schon gemeldet ... und auch ein paar deutschsprachige Freunde feiner älterer Waffen. Belgische Doppelbüchsen waren ja einmal vor 100 Jahren auch im äußersten Westen Deutschlands (Eifel) zu finden, häufig in seltenen Kalibern wie 9x57 R (so wie auch Deine Bockbüchsflinte) und .35 Winchester (eine schöne Patrone, die heute praktisch vergessen scheint).
Thanks to Merkel, I was fortunate to receive a copy of the original factory work card (Gewehrkarte), which has revealed some fascinating details about this particular firearm. I have recently started a detailed research project on this Model 210 and hope to learn even more from the knowledgeable members here.
Paleographically, the card shows an interesting mix of Sütterlin and lateinische Schreibschrift. Much of it is well legible, some elements are a bit more tricky. One must keep in mind that also mixes of both elements were common, even from the same writing hand.
The original ordering buyer seem to have been "Magasins réunis" (note the correct plural, which was slightly misspelled in Suhl), a department store chain from the French Grand Est region. These also commonly used to have firarms & hunting section, what in the USA might have been called field sports (because fishing was always included). Who the individual customer "PB" was, is hard to find out after nearly 100 years, including one Great Depression and one World War. The Weltwirtschaftskrise had just started when the gun was ordered. And the mechanics worked also between Christmas and New Year. Overall production time for this custom ordered gun was 2 months. You can discern various hands (some not very talented nor careful !) working hastily on the cheap and at times shoddily executed engraving.
The recent discovery of an ATM catalogue from 1950 by forum member Fab500 makes this question even more intriguing, as it suggests that the relationship between Merkel and ATM continued after the Second World War.
I suppose this is the collective reprint of multiple old catalogues that was recently published in France as an elenchus in bound book form, rather than one original catalogue? I strongly feel that the 1950 date was added (or chosen) by the editor.
The "ATM" and "Merkel Frères" markings were already specified on the factory work card, and the rifle barrel was regulated using French BN3F powder.
Hard to say. The card stipulates both a German and ("auch") a French propellant load. As it was common at the times, the card does not give bullet weight here, but bullet style and length. Whereas the proof houses used weight indications.
I would be very interested to hear if other members have encountered Merkel firearms bearing distributor or retailer markings from other countries, or if anyone has documents, catalogues or factory records that could help shed more light on this fascinating chapter of Merkel's history.
The most knowledgeable scholar to answer this today must be Igor Karklinsh, at times also found in this forum. I think his nickname is or was Robertovich?
Aves mes salutations respectueuses,
Carcano
