By Larry B. Schuknecht
During the late years of the 19th and the early years of the 20th Century a desire for a bolt action repeating rifle with the added versatility of a shotgun or small (Kleine) caliber rifle began to manifest itself. The earliest examples of these were developed by Peter Oberhammer of Munich. Click HERE to read all about Peter and his guns. Below are images of a Peter Oberhammer multi barrel bolt action made by Peter’s son Ludwig. The 16 ga. shotgun barrel swivels around the rifle barrel.
An undated catalog for Heinrich Moritz contains a page (following) about a combination gun which appears to be a Oberhammer creation.
The next inventor and Gun maker to develop a gun on this plan was Otto Bock of Berlin. Click HERE to read all about Otto and his guns. His design differed from Oberhammer’s in that the breech of the second barrel swung to the side to open.
Following is an image from the 1908 Albrecht Kind catalog showing a Otto Bock creation.
About the same time that Otto Bock developed his Combination gun, Carl Stiegle of Munich offered a combination Bolt Action with the lower shotgun removable which could be replaced with a plain fore-end. The following article appeared in the periodical Schuss un Waffe of 1912, issue nr. 13.
The next maker to venture into the manufacture of a bolt action combo gun was August Schuler with a auxiliary rifle barrel which dropped down. Click HERE to read all about August Schuler and HERE to read about Frederick Hollander who was the inspiration for this design.
The last maker who made a double barrel bolt action rifle in Germany before World War II was Christoph Funk of Suhl. His design had a breech block which swung out to the right side to load and unload a 22 rim fire round. Click HERE to read all about the Christoph Funk firm.
