I can't afford it, and I can't live without it. Someone save me from myself, please. It's on the way. This is a BSW (Made by Simson) 16/8X57JR with a good post war 2.5-8 variable in claws with a second set of 16/16 barrels.

They aren’t any good until you use them…

I've used them since I was 12, 63 years ago.

One day as a kid I took 7 chukar, 15 quail, and a big 4X4 mulie, all with a 12/12/30-30 drilling. We once had great hunting here in NW Nevada but no longer.

I always drool when I look at double rifles. I almost bought a Holland and Holland 450-500 BPE at a collectors show in Dallas last year. It was a gorgeous hammer gun, but that cartridge wouldn’t be fun for the smaller animals we have in Montana.

So what is the 8X57R? I’m assuming it is the German 8mm Mauser, with a rim. Mine was a 7X57R which is the same as the 7X57 with a rim…

Yep, its all but the same. My 8x57R even has a little dohickey that lets me use rimless 8x57's.
About the only way to make that more perfect would be to make the barrels up and down instead of sideways. Dang, that's nice!
Always wished I had a pair of shot barrels for mine.
Bfly

It's JR, and that's the older .318 diameter bore, although most of the JR guns have .320-.321 bores in fact. The modern 8 Mauser rimmed is the 8X57JRS, a hotter load than the JR and with the .323 bullet. JB got my JRS drilling a while back. I believe he uses it for grouse hunting in grizzly country.

BF, the dohickey in the edge of the rifle extractor was not uncommon between the wars, when correct ammo was hard to come by after WWI. The .321 bores were common so hunters could shoot military 8mm S-bore rimless ammo; it was a compromise bore.

I'd love to see that 7X57R, shrap. I tend to drool a bit, also. That 450-500 should have followed you home, IMO. Lots of guys use 45-70s, on up. Why not the BPE?

I have bought so many guns that I have to quit. A gun as big in caliber as that isn’t pleasant to shoot all day and I like shooting my rifles a lot. I can spend a whole week in the prairie dog fields shooting varmint rifles with no discomfort. Recoil isn’t something I want to deal with that much.

I see how many guys buy and build big game guns and cartridges to sight in and shoot a handful of times during the year and it doesn’t make sense, so I stick with the varmint calibers so I can shoot them a lot…

I always have been intrigued with the Jones Underlever guns, but have yet to own one...

When I still had a use for my 416 Rigby I loaded inexpensive Speer 350gr bullets and whacked coyotes with it. It was good training and kept me familiar with the gun. Would I do it now? In a word hell no. I see your point...but...

I now have 3 doubles, each which came with scopes.

The RBL Professional 20 ga Sabot Double remains unmolested




I have mounted Trijicon RMR's on the Merkel 141's




Top: 30-06 Springfield

Bottom:8 x 57R

Would love to find one at the price I'm willing to pay chambered for the 7 x 57R

ya!

GWB

It's hard to type with a hard tongue. That little 20 is wonderful eye candy. I wish I owned it, and you had a nicer one.

It is a sweetie-pie!



first blood!



ya!

GWB

I deserve that gun. You deserve better.

Great gun (you can't call it a rifle, can you?). I have an "export model" BSW 12 guage double, a plain field gun with 29+" barrels choked "full and fuller" the way the Germans used to like 'em. Made in Berlin, of course, just before WWII and exported to a gunshop in Salonika, Greece and marked with their name. 2 3/4" "export" chambers instead of the shorter ones used on many of the guns for the domestic German market.

A "former Yugoslavian" neighbor of mine really likes it--he says "good for shooting a duck or a Duke!". (You might guess at his political persuasion from this....).

BSW has an ugly history, but they made beautiful guns and I don't hold a gun's history against it, especially when it performs as well as BSWs do.

Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine, now that I've learned to load "spreaders"!

I would love to see a pic of that BSW of yours, Mesa. The one coming is a plain-Jane, also, but the fit and workmanship of the two other BSW guns I've seen were excellent. The Germans would tolerate no less.

They used the Anson & Deeley action design, which I think is stronger and more reliable than a Blitz action, at least where the wood to receiver fit is concerned. The A&D is far less prone to wood cracking.

I finally found a picture of the Holland and Holland 500/450 BPE I left in Dallas last year. It is the hammer gun in the center…

$12,500.00 for a toy is a bit expensive. It's not a varmint rifle for sure. It looks to be in excellent condition.

Why didn't you get it, piker?

I found the link to the 1937 German catalog, and it shows the two barrel set I have coming. It's the Astora 35 BD, listed on page 16.

The two barrel 35BD sold for 172 Reichsmarks in 1937. This set has the optional side cocking indicators.

https://www.germanhuntingguns.com/a...berlin-suhler-waffen-catalog-price-list/

Shot it today.

I shot the 16 SXS like it was made for me, and I was made for it.

The rifle groups well but shoots S&B factory fodder 196gr way high, 10-12" to the open sights at 75 yards. I have 150 ea Barnes Originals 150 gr .318 bullets on the way from a friend in OK. I'll speed those up as fast as I think the little gun can handle and see if that helps. The scope shot even a little higher.

Obviously, the old traditional loading isn't the ticket

Thanks, Paul. I appreciate your finding the 150s.

I wish you the best with the different 8mm loads.
My drilling, 16/16/8x57JRS, shot everything I tried very high. I finally made a higher front sight as a solution.
I have no idea what load the rifle was set up for.

That is pretty epic.

so what happened to the hunting?

44 year drought cycle
Mining
Population went up from under 300,000 to 3,000,000
Mining
Cheat Grass proliferation
Mining
4 WD vehicles
Mining
ATVs/UTVs
Mining
DOW that is all about big game tags, fees, and less about upland game
Mining
West Nile Virus
And Mining

Luv2safari, found another Canadian seller with some drillings. Visit Great North Guns site and scroll down the used firearms category. They have a few German drillings as well as older Mauser bolt guns. I’ve never purchased anything from them but their inventory is interesting.

Nick

Thanks Nick.

I'll have a look.

I am with you on big caliber's, sure you need for some game, but for me that was not the case, so I stayed with the medium calibers

That one looks mighty lightweight. Any idea what it weighed? It’s a beautiful piece. 😁

I have 50 Reichsmarks if you need a down payment, it is from the 1920's, may be older I would have to check.

I have thousands of Reichsmarks, some are only printed on one side

That $28K Marlin 1893 on the right got my attention!

I think I still have that guy's number, in case you are interested...