weird 98 mauser double barrel rifle/shotgun combo

[sportclay]

Has anyone ever seen one of these before?  I got a call from a friend and gun shop owner the other day.  Seems he had a 2 barreled Mauser 98 chambered for 7x57 and 16 ga. And he noted that he was not drinking.  He knows I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff. I assumed it was a take-down switch barreled rifle.  My first thought was how did you deal with the bolt face difference?  Two bolts?  When I got there this is what I found.  The top rile barrel and action function as any other Mauser rifle.  A clever mechanism operated by a horn under lever that cammed the under barrel laterally to the right exposing the chamber for the 16 ga.  This under barrel is pivoted at the muzzle with a mid barrel support that is fixed to the shot barrel.  Extraction of the fired case is manual via a small tab on the lower right of the shot barrel breach.  The shot barrel is cocked by depressing the lever seen to the left of the bolt cocking piece.  The firing pin travels the length of the action inside along the left side of the magazine well.  I can find little or nothing about the maker.  I am not even sure he is the maker as he appears to be a large sporting goods and firearms dealer. The mark inlaid in silver on the rifle barrel top rib is “H. Bergsmuller & Sohne – Kreiensen”. The actual rifle caliber was 8x57 J, .318” bore, and 2 ˝ “16 ga. chamber.  Dave assumed that 7.7x57 was 7x57Mauser.  The scope is made by Zeiss and appears to be 3x-4x, in excellent condition optically, with a detachable see-through mount.   There are no Nazi period proofs.  I believe it was made in the teens or early twentys.  The rifle barrel is proofed for a 14gram (216gr) jacketed bullet.  The action appears to have been military.  What little I can find shows that Bergsmuller was in business since about 1900.  The company last published a catalog in 1961.  It contains firearms from many makers.  Another catalog from 1910 is mostly firearms bearing Bergsmuller’s name.  

 

The condition is not as bad as the pics show.  It was found in a shed on a dairy farm in Upstate NY and has a lot of years of grunge. I cleaned the loose heavy grunge.  It needs to be taken apart and really de-grunged.  Mechanically it is perfect.  I have never seen, read or even heard of one of these before.  Internet searches have revealed nothing.  The maker had a lot of time on his hands as the design of the under barrel mechanism is really slick, and I doubt he perfected it over night.  It is weird to say the least.  Ugly but cool!  A very high Gee Whiz factor.  If a German hadn’t built this, a Brit certainly would have…:>)

http://s867.photobucket.com/albums/ab236/Sportclay/Weird%20Mauser%20rifle/
pictures at the above link

[mauser98us]

Congrats on the Bugsmuller. I have a Mannlicher style rifle in 7.92 Mauser and is of high quality. What you have is reasonably common in the golden era of German gunmaking. The reason for these and drillerings were the populace was limited to and taxed on the amount of firearms one could own. These combo guns made it possible to own two types. You have a high quality piece. Take care of it and don't bubba it.

[sportclay]

I have been collecting British & Continental rifles and shotguns for 30 years and have never encountered this type of combination gun/rifle before.  On several trips to Germany and Austria (can't go there without visiting gun shops) I haven't seen anything like this.  I am going to contact one of the shops in Germany and see if I can't dig up some details on this rifle.  Some years back I had a double rifle marked by this maker come through my shop.  It was also 8x57j, similar scope mounts and an over engineered adjustable comb.  That didnt compare to the uniqueness of this one.  Thanks for your reply.  If you should happen upon any info regarding this particular design I would love to hear about it. Thanks again

[anweis]

for 30 years and have never encountered this type of combination gun/rifle before. 

That is because they are very uncommon. I have never heard of or seen anything like that either; if it ended up here in the states it most like was taken as war spoil or bought by a GI during WWII ir shortly thereafter. These could be bought for a few packs of cigarettes after the war.

[bill439]

the wow factor is in.  I have never seen anything like this --cool--  and i thought drillings were cool  bill439

[mauser98us]

I have seen perhaps about six of them. What I meant by resonably common,was during the heyday of German rifle building. This type is scarce as hen's teeth now

[anweis]

I have seen perhaps about six of them. What I meant by resonably common,was during the heyday of German rifle building. This type is scarce as hen's teeth now

I consider them uncommon because i have in storage a huge collection of catalogs, magazines, prospects aimed at the German, Austrian, and Austro-Hungarian hunter and dated 1890-1938. I never saw anything like that ever advertised in any print. It must have been some sort of 2-man shop that did those forearms. There are many gunsmiths advertising  custom work, though, and this may be the case.

[mauser98us]

Burgsmueller seemed to be the one that made most,if not all of these. The ones I have seen were all  made by this manufacturer. They seem to be the only one who did make them in all the reasearch I have done. Much like Geco and Reha seemed to do all the two shot 98 shotgun conversions. I imagine a few of both type were made in the guilds, like standard 98 sporters were.

[sportclay]

Attached is a page from the 1913 Stukenbrock catalog.  They are reported in very early Bergsmuller catalogs.  I have a reprint of a 1910 catalog on order and hopefully it appear in it.  According to  the GGCA(German Gun Collectors Assoc.) they are virtually unknown. There is an article in GGCA journal #27 on a similar rifle with a different shot barrel swiveling mechanism, involving a hinge.  They are anxious to see more and better photos on this rifle as the only thing any of them have seen is the catalog references.  After WW1 they are not in the Bergsmuller Catalog and not in later Stukenbrock catalogs.  Bergsmuller did not make this rifle they only marketed it.  Both were mail order and retail store front businesses Bergsmuller was the largest and also a maker, but mostly of drillings and magazine rifles.  The scope mounts on this rifle are a Bergsmuller patent.  In a previous post I mentioned I had once owned a double rifle that sported an identical set of see-thru windage adjustable scope mounts.  Also bearing the H. Bergsmuller mark. They marketed a huge number of firearms and accessories from many makers.  I suspect judging from the large quantity of firearms offered that they utilized the Guild system to produce most of the firearms marked Bergsmuller.  Dietrich Apel (NECG and formerly from Paul Jeager) has been a great help in answering many questions.  I am hoping to find some time this coming week to get more and better pictures posted.  Then put some rounds through it to see how it shoots.