i have in hand the jager "herold" 12g referenced above. the gun is in astonishing condition, as close to 100% cc as i can imagine, neither wood nor metal show any significant usage. original horn buttplate is gone....cut to 14.2 inches on a pachmayr recoil pad (at least it's not a white line...) otherwise the gun appears untouched, all screws are clean, and contrary to what the seller told me it is an ejector gun - the extractors fit so tightly on their face that at a glance they appear to be a single piece of metal. he had also told me it was a 2&3/4 chambered gun, but it is still 65mm with unaltered cones. FLUSSTAHL KRUPP ESSEN...bores measure .721-2, and chokes at left 40 thou, and right 25 thou...6# 13oz and nicely balanced. judging from the jager catalogs, i believe it to be a model 3E, with ornamented side clips and the typical "catseyes". judging by my searches, side clips and ejectors seem to always be together.
gun has typical post 1912 - pre 1924 suhl proofs....but there are two marks that i am curious about; chambers are marked with 12 encircled, and beside them are 13 with what at a glance looks like 13/1....but on closer inspection it appears to be 13 with a script M, almost touching the 13. have never seen this mark - could it mean muzzle? that would be accurate for the left bore, not so much for the right.
and the second question regards two stampings "GERMANY" in very small block letters; once on the barrel at 9 o'clock on the left chamber area, and another in the wood near the end of the left side panel (about where a tear drop would be found on an english gun). those would seem to indicate the gun was intended for export, and may not be original factory markings (?).
at any rate it is a lovely gun, with dimensions that seem to fit me nicely, and i am pleased to have found a nice example of something i have looked for several years.
best regards,
tom
