Custom Commission Mauser that's a work of art.

[David LaPell]

I have always had a thing for old custom guns at the turn of the 20th century that were made by the masters, the early days of Holland and Holland, John Rigby, etc. A while ago, our local gun shop got in a couple of older rifles that were custom pieces, one being either a Mauser 1881 Karabiner or '91 Short rifle, the giveaway being the turned down bolt handle.
This gun was built by Eduard Kettner in Koln. The gun is in 7.92 x 57mm, it's the earlier 8mm Mauser with the .318" bore (I've already slugged the barrel and used a dummy round to confirm the chamber). I know I will be handloading for this one instead of using the commercial and hotter .323" ammo. The serial number on the bolt matches the number on the inside of the magazine floorplate.
The rest of the gun is simply amazing in the time it took to put together. The top of the action is stippled by the chamber, and then near the bolt and even part of the bolt. The barrel itself is a half-octagon from BohlerStahl (Bohler Stahl), the Bohler brothers, Albert and Emil were considered some of the finest steel makers in Germany at that time. The star on the maker's mark was because they were Jewish and proud of it and kept that logo until 1933 when they moved their plant to Austria. The company operates to this day under a slightly different name.
The top of the barrel is engraved along the flat and includes the Eduard Kettner name which looks like it has the remains of some gold inlay. The bolt also has a set up for claw style scope mounts and an express rear sights. Even the sight blades have been checkered.
The gun has double set triggers which work and work very well, inside the action is still the remains of the case coloring that must have been on the gun when it was made. The scope mounts are scout/long relief style because the action still uses the Mannlicher style clips for the rounds.
I spent about 3-4 weeks researching the rifle before I decided to trade a lever action Marlin for it, since the odds of me seeing something like this again is probably not going to be an every day thing. And yes, I do plan on shooting this gun. I can only wonder at how long it took to make this gun and how much it would cost to make a gun like this today.

[swheeler]

David that is very nice indeed, not a square inch of it that wasn't "touched" with stippling or engraving, time consuming.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Very nice piece. If only it could talk, I'll bet it would have some great hunting stories to tell.

DG

[444ttd]

very nice rifle!!!!!!!!!

[ShooterAZ]

You're right, it is a work of art. It's eye candy, and I'd love to hold it in my own hands and admire it.

[sharps4590]

It is a stunning rifle and in a style I love. I am a sucker for side panels and have several in my toy box.

Have you had it apart and looked at the proofs on the bottom of the barrel?

[GregLaROCHE]

That’s a beauty. When quality of workmanship was held in high regard.

[Texas by God]

I hold Marlins in high regard; but I might have traded two of them for that jewel.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[David LaPell]

It is a stunning rifle and in a style I love. I am a sucker for side panels and have several in my toy box.

Have you had it apart and looked at the proofs on the bottom of the barrel?

I took the stock off last night to see what they looked like, and I got to see more of the case coloring that was all over this gun when it was done. As nice as it is now, I can only imagine what a looker this rifle was the day it left the shop when it was all done.

[MrWolf]

Simply beautiful. Congrats

[sharps4590]

I do not believe it was made by Kettner but, made for the trade in Suhl and bought in by Kettner. Maybe in the white and finished, maybe not. The "henne" in the circle is an early proof mark for Suhl, as I understand it.

The rifle was proofed with a steel bullet and I think what I make out as "2,75 GBP, (?) is the powder charge. Proof was before WWI.

German gun/sporting goods shops were required to have a Master Gunsmith on staff and while it is entirely possible Kettner could make a rifle, I don't believe he made yours. Much like a Marlin or Mossberg being stamped "J.C. Higgins" or "Ted Williams" when sold by Sears & Roebuck...back when this was a free country.

Please take anything I said as subject to correction. The German gun trade at that time, as with the British trade, was still largely a cottage industry. With the results of two World Wars and a fiend named Hitler many records have been lost and/or destroyed.

To me, and I collect German firearms, it doesn't much matter who made it, especially from that era. They are nearly all outstanding pieces of workmanship with the only difference being the level of embellishment. I have both very plain and highly embellished rifles and, as far as their shooting and operation, there is no difference. The only one I do not have a representative of is a vierling....and it's unlikely I'll ever fill that void.

[Buckshot]

.............A VERY nice old hunting piece, and a delight to look at.

Buckshot

[David LaPell]

I do not believe it was made by Kettner but, made for the trade in Suhl and bought in by Kettner. Maybe in the white and finished, maybe not. The "henne" in the circle is an early proof mark for Suhl, as I understand it.

The rifle was proofed with a steel bullet and I think what I make out as "2,75 GBP, (?) is the powder charge. Proof was before WWI.

German gun/sporting goods shops were required to have a Master Gunsmith on staff and while it is entirely possible Kettner could make a rifle, I don't believe he made yours. Much like a Marlin or Mossberg being stamped "J.C. Higgins" or "Ted Williams" when sold by Sears & Roebuck...back when this was a free country.

Please take anything I said as subject to correction. The German gun trade at that time, as with the British trade, was still largely a cottage industry. With the results of two World Wars and a fiend named Hitler many records have been lost and/or destroyed.

To me, and I collect German firearms, it doesn't much matter who made it, especially from that era. They are nearly all outstanding pieces of workmanship with the only difference being the level of embellishment. I have both very plain and highly embellished rifles and, as far as their shooting and operation, there is no difference. The only one I do not have a representative of is a vierling....and it's unlikely I'll ever fill that void.

I have been having a lot of fun digging into the history behind these guns. I found two more guns that have Eduard Kettner on it. One is a near twin for mine except the location of the scope mounts. The other isn't as embellished as well, nowhere near the level of engraving, and it was turned from the Mauser 1888 to a single shot stalking rifle (actually kind of like that one). I also found a page from the Kettner catalog showing what appears to be a 1888 Mauser with what they're labeling as Model 1902 scope. Not sure who exactly did make it, but apparently there were some very close so I have to wonder if this was a catalogued option.

[GARD72977]

Wow! What a great rifle

[AlHunt]

That is really a great old rifle.

Have you decided what color cerakote you'll use? And where the "Punisher" logo will fit best?

[David LaPell]

That is really a great old rifle.

Have you decided what color cerakote you'll use? And where the "Punisher" logo will fit best?

That would rank right up there with sending my kid to the Association of Young Democrats.

[sharps4590]

Those stalking rifles aren't uncommon, nor are they something you see every day but there has been several different ones offered over the last few years.

It can be exceedingly frustrating trying to figure out who actually made a rifle...and even more so when it's yours. After 12 years of being a member of the German Gun Collector's....and at least that many before I joined...of spending a small fortune on books and digging into a multitude of drillings, combination guns, double rifles, 88's, 96's, 98's and several single shot rifles, Schutzen, stalking and otherwise, (Schuetzen rifles are the easiest, [thank you Alte Scheibenwaffen], usually in the best condition...and often most embellished...and scary accurate). I've come to the conclusion that for my sanity I don't much care who made it, though it's nice to know, they're all excellent. So many small shops in Suhl and in Zella-Mehlis made sooo many, most actually, of the firearms sold in the shops all across Germany, regardless of the name on the rib. It is due to the German gunmakers guild, and the mind set of the German people in general, that the vast majority of German made firearms are the quality they are. They take a back seat to none in quality and exceed most. In their doubles they give away nothing to the British and are a bargain by comparison.

I have a Haenel/Rasch on an 1888 action I presume Haenel re-worked and Rasch retailed although Rasch did make his own firearms as well. I believe they called it an 1890 but am not certain. It's been re-barreled to 9 X 57 and a typical sporting rifle magazine made for for it with the most interesting follower I've ever seen. It is not the typical Mauser "W" spring attached to the floor plate. It is a....kind of solidly mounted follower on a sort of hinge that when pushed fully forward uses a cam to pull the follower out of the way, toward the floor plate. It has a finely done yet robust latch in the front of the trigger guard. It's also a pre-WWI rifle and the bore is bright & shiny...it does have claw bases and....it shoots 240+ gr. cast bullets just fine.

Your rifle pretty much a normal rifle for the era. I have quite a few bolt rifles on various actions in diverse cartridges from about 1890 to the mid-1930's and one is as good as the other. They share very similar traits though the styles changed a bit over that 40 years. Side panels and schnabel's disappeared before or shortly after WWI though they were seen occasionally on later rifles. The 98 action dominated after WWI....for obvious reasons. They were also at least a generation ahead in cartridge development and many of the cartridges American shooters think are "new" had equals or betters developed in Germany over 100 years ago. What we all have today is better propellants and closer tolerances.

[sharps4590]

That is really a great old rifle.

Have you decided what color cerakote you'll use? And where the "Punisher" logo will fit best?

What are those?

[David LaPell]

Those stalking rifles aren't uncommon, nor are they something you see every day but there has been several different ones offered over the last few years.

It can be exceedingly frustrating trying to figure out who actually made a rifle...and even more so when it's yours. After 12 years of being a member of the German Gun Collector's....and at least that many before I joined...of spending a small fortune on books and digging into a multitude of drillings, combination guns, double rifles, 88's, 96's, 98's and several single shot rifles, Schutzen, stalking and otherwise, (Schuetzen rifles are the easiest, [thank you Alte Scheibenwaffen], usually in the best condition...and often most embellished...and scary accurate). I've come to the conclusion that for my sanity I don't much care who made it, though it's nice to know, they're all excellent. So many small shops in Suhl and in Zella-Mehlis made sooo many, most actually, of the firearms sold in the shops all across Germany, regardless of the name on the rib. It is due to the German gunmakers guild, and the mind set of the German people in general, that the vast majority of German made firearms are the quality they are. They take a back seat to none in quality and exceed most. In their doubles they give away nothing to the British and are a bargain by comparison.

I have a Haenel/Rasch on an 1888 action I presume Haenel re-worked and Rasch retailed although Rasch did make his own firearms as well. I believe they called it an 1890 but am not certain. It's been re-barreled to 9 X 57 and a typical sporting rifle magazine made for for it with the most interesting follower I've ever seen. It is not the typical Mauser "W" spring attached to the floor plate. It is a....kind of solidly mounted follower on a sort of hinge that when pushed fully forward uses a cam to pull the follower out of the way, toward the floor plate. It has a finely done yet robust latch in the front of the trigger guard. It's also a pre-WWI rifle and the bore is bright & shiny...it does have claw bases and....it shoots 240+ gr. cast bullets just fine.

Your rifle pretty much a normal rifle for the era. I have quite a few bolt rifles on various actions in diverse cartridges from about 1890 to the mid-1930's and one is as good as the other. They share very similar traits though the styles changed a bit over that 40 years. Side panels and schnabel's disappeared before or shortly after WWI though they were seen occasionally on later rifles. The 98 action dominated after WWI....for obvious reasons. They were also at least a generation ahead in cartridge development and many of the cartridges American shooters think are "new" had equals or betters developed in Germany over 100 years ago. What we all have today is better propellants and closer tolerances.

Would guns like mine have been more likely to be used in Europe for hunting or were they catering to hunters heading to Africa for plains or medium size game? I wonder that with the express sights and the fact the claw mounts were able to be so quickly detached, something that was a benefit anywhere, but especially Africa where the game would have been close quarters. I find guns like these truly fascinating, because I can't imagine how long it took for all the little detail work, the stippling alone on the top of the action and how time consuming that had to be, all the engraving. I would shudder to think how much it would cost to try and duplicate the time and cost of having a gunmaker do all of that work today, then add to it case coloring the gun, adding the double set trigger. A gun like this made now would require me to take out a second mortgage. That's one of the big reasons why I bought it, we don't see guns like this here, little tiny gun shops that while old guns show up all the time, guns like this are never seen.

[Conditor22]

You're going to have a bunch of guys drooling all over their keyboards

almost too purdy to shoot.