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Adam,

I just noticed your post and read through the many comments, all good stuff. As a collector of German sporting arms for many years I believe I can say with confidence that the quality of their firearms is consistently nice. That said, if the condition of the gun is good (subjective as always) $2000.00 dollars for a more conventionally configured drilling (SXS shotgun over rifle) is a good price. The national average for a nice piece is generally somewhere around $3500.00. Bock drillings (O/U rifle and shotgun combinations), Doppelbuchse drillings (SXS double rifle with a single shotgun tube) and Schienen drillings (rifle bore in the top rib or rifle barrel on top of SXS shotgun with a separate rib) jack the price up quite a bit. The Anson & Deeley (boxlock) receivers are rather common but that’s not a bad thing as they allow for the strongest stock configurations. Both the side-plate and “Blitz” actions require the removal of quite a bit wood in the area of the butt-stock that takes the brunt of the abuse from recoil (I think someone brought htis up already). Some collectors consider the later receiver configurations more desirable but that opinion comes more from a rarity and esthetic stand point. Both afford more real estate for engraving. As to the bore, both the 8X57JRS and the earlier 8X57JR are fine for most midsized game. I have never had a problem finding factory ammunition for either and re-loading is certainly not a problem. Now if the subject piece was an 8X57JR I would have to caution you (and your friend) to be careful not to make the mistake of loading a JRS round into a JR weapon as it stands the chance of being a one-time deal, hazardous if not life threatening due to the resultant increase in chamber pressure. For a little history on the JR or IR and JRS or IRS acronyms following the bore diameter and case length I grabbed an article that sums it up off the Internet for you rather than me going through the whole deal:

They're all variations of the same basic cartridge. 8x57mm came out originally in 1888, for the German Commission rifle of that year. The cartridge was designed by committee. Original bullet diameter was .318" and the bullet was a about 196gr or around 14.7 grams and in a round nose configuration. This was the 8x57J. “J” begins the German word for Infantry or Jnfanterie. Sometime about 1904, credited to a man by the name of Arthur Gleinich, they decided to go with the new spitzer bullets and also increased the diameter to .323", which made the 8x57JS. The “S” is for Spitzer or Spitzgeschoss. This military 8mm had by then become a popular sporting cartridge., but many of the early single-shot and double rifles could not handle rimless cases due to their extractor/ejector design - a rimmed case was needed and thus was born the rimmed variant of 8x57, the 8x57JR (J for "Infantry", R for "Rimmed") and, later, the 8x57JRS (Spitzer). Note that many U.S. 8x57 commercial hunting ammo manufacturers use .321” diameter bullets. Supposedly this is out of concern that someone will shoot the ammo in the old .318” “J” bore and thus meeting half way between the old and modern 8mm diameter. Though new American ammo is generally loaded to lower pressures for the same reasons, it may not be a good idea to shoot jacketed .321” ammo through the old .318” grooved barrels. Also note that I have received reports of “S” marked barrels on M88 rifles that actually are not an “S” bore. I recommend slugging the barrel diameter of any M1888 regardless of markings before selecting proper ammo for it.

The following is a list of dimensions for you to sum up the difference between the two bore configurations:

8X57IR (Infantry – Rimmed)

Bullet Diameter: 8.09mm or .3185” (.318”)

Barrel Land Diameter: 7.80mm or .3071”

Barrel Groove Diameter: 8.07mm or .3177”

8X57IRS (Infantry – Rimmed – Spitzer)

Bullet Diameter: 8.22mm or .3236” (.323”)

Barrel Land Diameter: 7.89mm or .3106”

Barrel Groove Diameter: 8.20mm or .3228”

Having Anson & Deeley stamped on the gun is a little different. I can’t help you with that one but it’s probably a good question for Dietrich Apel of the German Gun Collectors Association. As others have said, please post pictures if and when they are available.

Regards,

Marcus

PS - I went into my German gun catalog collection to see if I could find more information for you on Emil Kerner but the only Kerner I have is Ernst Kerner, Suhl.

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Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own:
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.

- John Dryden