I just picked up an interesting 16 gauge Simson to use as a grouse and preserve pheasant gun, mostly because I still have about 7 flats of 16 gauge ammo of various types. It's a boxlock, in very good condition other than some minor freckling and bluing wear on the barrels, most of which cleaned up with the application of some gun oil and rubbing with the edge of an older copper penny.
The gun has nearly all of its case colors and a better than average piece of wood, especially for German boxlock in the price range below $1000, and lacks the usual cheekpiece, which leads me to believe it was intended for a market other than Germany. It also has two interesting features, neither of which I noticed when I ordered the gun on line.
The first feature is a double barrel lug, one under each barrel, rather than a single, centrally mounted lug. I've seen photos of such lugs, but never actually handled a gun with them before. I'm not sure of the why one would do that, but they appear to function, so they aren't an issue.
The second feature is a full set of British Birmingham nitro proof markings, including the BNP, 2-1/2" and 3 tons stampings. I have never seen a German gun with British proofs before, but there they are, sharp as the day they were applied. I'm wondering if the gun came home from the wars in some Tommy's duffel and then was redone after having provided yeoman service to its owner, with the bores honed enough to require reproof. I have no idea how it ended up in the U.S.
The bores are .667 and .669 and the chokes are IC/M, which will be perfect for my intended usage. Barrel wall thicknesses are in the 30s and 40s. The chambers are marked as 2-1/2", but the guy operating the reamer must have leaned a bit hard on it the day he bored them as they measure 67mm in the left barrel and 68mm in the right barrel. The forcing cones are quite short and I'm considering having them lengthened, as I'll probably shoot 2-3/4 inch low pressure reloads as a standard fare. Measuring the Remington, Winchester (compression formed) and Herter's (the newer Cabela's type) fired hulls gives me 68, 69 and 68 mm respectively, so I don't think that should be a problem.
I'll try to get some photos of the barrel lugs and the proof markings this weekend and post them.
In the meantime, have you ever seen a German double with British proofs?
