doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Johann Fanzoj (Ferlach) 1946 Side by Side

Andrew, Nice gun and fabulous maker. I am a Fanzoj owner, but not an expert by any means. My understanding about the firm is that they produced high quality, but typical, German/Austrian guns from their founding until approximately 2000 when they transformed into a lower-volume niche and art-gun manufacturer of exceptional quality. I found this on their excellent website:

After a short period of stagnation in 1945, demand for hunting weapons set in again. In the peak years from 1965 to 1980, Fanzoj produces up to 200 weapons per year. The crisis of the U.S. dollar in the 1980’s, as well as the growing international competition who increasingly move into serial mass production of their weapons, push Ferlach into a slump. In 1946 there are still 56 gunsmith companies in Ferlach, but the numbers drop continuously. Today, only a handful of highly specialized family-firms continue to build hand-crafted hunting weapons in Ferlach. During those difficult times Johann Fanzoj, Senior Manager, succeeds in expanding the company to world-wide recognition and opens new areas of business and trade. An avid hunter and world traveller himself, Johann Fanzoj sen. is the first Ferlach gunsmith to go on a safari to Africa in 1969 – and initiates the era of large caliber double rifles in Ferlach; highly esteemed working tools among professional hunters in Africa. His good relations to high-profile personalities such as Marshall Tito (the legendary post-War leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) leads to Fanzoj hunting weapons becoming treasured gifts presented by and to heads of state.


Interesting discussion about the "21.30" I wonder if this is the serial number. My Fanzoj rifle of recent manufacture has "21.2XXX" engraved on the tang which I took to be the serial number.

I did a little more searching and discovered that "21" is the Ferlach manufacturer code for Fanzoj. Apparently all of the Ferlach gunmakers received a number to identify guns manufactured by them post-1945. The first number, #21, was issued to Fanzoj, the second gunmaker received #22, etc. The number following the dot is the serial number. So it appears that Andrew's gun was the 45th gun manufactured by Fanzoj after being issued the 1945 code and mine was 2,000+ made in 2008. All in all a relatively small output!

No, it would be Nr. 30 for Fanzoj in 1946 with the same being Nr. 807 to pass thru the Ferlach proof facility in 1946. Production was for British Officers or similar only.

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Evidently we are not going to get much more, if any, info from Fanzoj. Like most makers they typically don't look back and prefer to gaze forward. Most of us here know the history of various gunmakers better than they know themselves. They almost turn a blind eye to it as if once a longarm leaves the shop, they purge all memory of it less a date & serial number. I guess those of us here attach too much nostalgia to the pieces of various makers. But on occasion if a specific longarm was issues to a ruling faction, then the makers seem to have interest there. Seemingly that the makers want to think that all there wares landed up in the hands of custodians that were nobility, for want of a better term.

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Could you pleasure us with a image of the area from the flats up to the forend hanger?? That repair makes me curious.

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Man, that short rib repair is awful. That’s really too bad on what appears to be a rather nice continental gun.
I wonder what the thought process was behind that attempt? Is the short rib still underneath all that peened solder/lead? Is it gone completely? Why? So many head scratching questions.

I am voting for Miss Fanzoj as the most attractive female gun company owner. She is very well spoken and obviously erudite. I really have no knowledge of Austrian guns, but this is the info I found on Austrian serial numbers. It is interesting that Fanzoj is listed twice. I wonder if there were two gunmakers by the same name, perhaps different branches of the same gunmaking family.


Ferlach gunmaker codes, post 1945 - xxxx being the maker's serial number

21.xxxx Johann Fanzoj
22.xxxx Josef Hambrusch
23.xxxx Karl Hauptmann
24.xxxx Josef Just
25.xxxx Josef Kruschitz
26.xxxx Jakob Koschat
27.xxxx Simon Kalischnig
28.xxxx Peter Mischitz
29.xxxx Josef Mischitz
30.xxxx Josef Orasche
31.xxxx Michel Pegam
32.xxxx Anton Sodia
33.xxxx Franz Sodia
34.xxxx Johann Sigot
35.xxxx Walter Outschar
36.xxxx Wincenz Urbas
37.xxxx Benedikt Winkler
38.xxxx Gunmaker's Guild
39.xxxx Handgun Technical School
40.xxxx Ludwig Borovnik
41.xxxx Johan Michelitsc
42.xxxx Josef Winkler
43.xxxx Thomas Kulnig
44.xxxx Walter Gratzer
45.xxxx Erich Achatz
46.xxxx Josef Schonlieb
47.xxxx Lorenz Schaschl
48.xxxx Johann Fanzoj
49.xxxx Franz Schmid
50.xxxx Franz Schmied
51.xxxx Gottfreid Juch
52.xxxx Valentin Roesenzopf's sons
53.xxxx Wilfried Glanznig
55.xxxx Herbert Scheiring

Thanks to Peter N for completing this list.

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Last updated: 2012-11-23

Here's a better picture of the fore end area with the repair. Ultimately, I am most likely a long-term owner of the gun, so the crudeness of the repair doesn't completely detract from my use of the gun. Out of curiosity, would this be something that a more skilled gunsmith could rectify? And how much would something like that typically cost? My best guess is there is no rib under this solder

It looks like someone flooded solder over the short rib I can't imagine the rib not being there eventually the solder would compress unless a piece of steel was added very strange repair