Forums.NitroExpress.com

good afternoon, gentlemen

i am hoping one of you can help me identify a fine german double rifle which i recently bought.

the barrels are unmarked except under the forend. there it says something like "Bemesu" in a florid script on the bottom of the barrels just forward of the breech. conceivably it could be Remesu, Bemesee or Remesee, but i think not.

when you break the action open, you can see that the receiver is also marked with that name. also the serial number 54XX appears near Bemesu in both places.

to the right of the Bemesu name under the barrels, it says "8H" or "SH" again in florid script.

the following marks are all on the undersides of both barrels just forward of the breech, the same marks on the right barrel and again on the left, except as noted:

an outline of a crown over a capital N. the crown is topped by a small cross. this means Nitro proofed, i.e. smokeless powder, correct?

to the right of the crown-N, the letters "St. m. G." and directly below the St m G it says "18 gr" which i have read means 18 gram bullet, about 276 grains. and i read that the St m G means it was proofed with a steel-jacketed bullet.

nearby it says "9 mm" and immediately below that it says 75

on the left barrel only, below below the 9 mm 75 it says "10/24" so i assume it was made in october of 1924

immediately below the 10/24 is a strange symbol that looks like the greek letter "pi" with a small circle on top of it. it could be a stylized human form.

below that, there are a series of three more proof marks, each a crown-with-cross over a capital letter: one is crown-U, the 2nd is crown-E, the 3rd is crown-G

the receiver has the same crown-U, which i learned means "proof accepted". i don't understand what that means -- if it didn't pass the proof tests they wouldn't proof mark it, so why add this extra indication that it passed? doesn't matter, just curious.

i just had a gunsmith slug the barrel and make a chamber casting. it is a 9.3x74R.

i know that the 9 mm proof mark is bore diameter (versus 9.3 is groove), but i can not explain the 75 instead of 74 unless the proof house was stating that the chamber was 1 mm longer than the brass case length...?

the only other mark on the rifle is a capital S on the underside of the rib that joins the barrel; the S is just forward of the forend hanger.

do any of you experts recognize the proof marks? the name Bemesu?

this is a magnificent old rifle, well made, extensively engraved, and fitted with claw mounts and an old zeiss scope. it has 60 cm barrles (23.6") and weighs only 7 lbs 9 oz without the scope, a very handy little gun for that caliber.

one last thing: it is a "clamshell" action, there are curved wings on each side of the breech so that when the breech ends of the barrels lock down against the the receiver, their is a steel shell along the left side of the left barrel and along the right side of the right barrel. these extend alongside the barrels for over an inch forward of the breechfaces, and extend halfway up the side of the barrels. this gives tremendous lateral strength ot the breech mechanism and will not allow the barrels to wiggle sideways even a tiny little bit. unusual design.

i sure would appreciate any info you gents can give me.

thank you very much & happy thanksgiving to all

lapsub