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.