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Nice example. Yes it has chopper lump Poldi steel tubes as well as a Purdey type nose as a 3rd bite. The sidelock has coil springs for the mainsprings like an early T&T Woodward(1882 patent but a boxlock). Sidelock with coil springs, Purdey nose and chopper lump Poldi steel tubes is an odd marriage on production gun. At first I didn't remember cocking indicators on non-engraved models but I had just forgotten. Just keep it clean and lightly lubricated so that the nose funtions properly. Typical of a European setup, the left tube is choked tighter than the right tube. Usually the trigger pull is a bit stiff and with a slight bit of tweaking it is a value for a field gun. A friend of mine has a non-engraved model like the ones forsale at Cabelas from the 1960s. Opening day and a few subsequent days he faired well with it and a few S&B #6s, which he had stuck back, on the every elusive ditch parrot. I see you blocked the serial number but did it have "77" in the date code? It is a product of the Wiepert craftsmen and forced mechanization. Early on the Bohemian craftsmen really didn't embrace mechaniaztion. Working in a town where there was an arsenal doesn't pair well with the production of sporting arms so the talented craftsmen faded into the sunset. The byproduct of a war machine and mechanization was the CZ double barrel shotgun. At any rate the following is some info on Poldi and the electric oven as well as other Poldi type steels:

In 1845 a rich coal deposit was found near Kladno and the Vojtech Smelting Works was founded by Vojtech Lana and the Klein brothers with Vojtech’s name. In 1857 the Prague Ironworks Company was formed and Austrian Karl Wittgenstein, became director after getting his start at a works in Teplitz and working up to director in 1877. Just prior to this in 1873 he married Leopoldina Kallmus. Vienna must have been a retail outlet or sales office but there could have been facilities there. At any rate he held an iron and steel monopoly in Bohemia and Moravia and was a buddy of Andrew Carnegie. He became the director of the Prague Ironworks Company and hung out his own shingle in 1889 by founding the Poldi Ironworks(Poldihutte) about 30 km outside of Prague. Poldi was named after his wife Leopoldina’s nickname, Poldi, or his pet name for her. In 1893 Poldi Ironworks applied for a trademark which was a image or likeness of a woman or Leopoldina with a 5 sided star above her head, which stood for the 5 continents of which Poldi Ironworks intended on dominating.
Poldi had several types of steel:
Poldi Anti-corro – I guess it may have a high chromium iron content
Poldi Elecktro – more than likely a hybrid electric ovens between Kjellin & Roechling(1st to utilize electric ovens)
Poldi Nickel Steel – probably high content nickel made in an acid open hearth
W02 – can’t say if it was barrel steel but I think auto(Thunderbolt??)
Victrix Special(Airplanes?) and I’m sure others

Post WWII, Commissioner Adolf Machac of Brno-CZ was head over an entity that was a conglomerate of Bittner, Fükert, Morgenstern, etc. His father was Antonin Machac, a firearms merchant for Fs. Dumoulin & Cie as well as a master craftsmen early on Antonin Machac married Frantisek Faukner’s sister which connected the 2 gunmaking powerhouses. Frantisek Faukner was born 9/16/1861 and was a master Cologne gunsmith in 1888 until 12/31/1909. Had many apprentices such as: Ostrava Gustav Tichy, Frantisek Pudebradska Lesak, Oldrich Vosmek from Chrudim, Frantisek Halir of Jicin, Pardubice Chomrak Vincent, etc. Faukner received a Prague business license on 11/11/1909 and closed his Cologne shop at the end of that year. I'm sure I have some additional info on CZ somewhere.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

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