Prussian 10 gauge

[mike ford]

Peter,
Thanks for doing the research to straighten this out.
Mike

[algmule]

Hello

Some saw the in-stock mark as an opportunity. The below is just one example. Translation by Google Translate.

Ein Betr?ger ist in Apolda verhaftet worden. So manche Besitzer von Handfeuerwaffen, besonders solche auf dem Lande, haben die Frist verabs?umt, innerhalb der die Besitzer solcher Waffen verpflichtet waren dieselben mit dem gesetzlichen Ausschlag des Vorrathszeichens versehen zu lassen. Auf diesen Umstand spekulirte der zweiundzwanzig Jahre alte Paul Schaub. Er sprach bei einer gro?en Anzahl von Jagdp?chtern in Nachbarortschaften unter der Maske eines gerichtlichen Revisors zur Pr?fung der L?ufe und Verschl?sse der Handfeuerwaffen vor und fand an zahlreichen Stellen die Sache "nicht in Ordnung". Der "Herr Revisor" lie? aber Gnade f?r Recht ergehen und stempelte alle noch r?ckst?ndigen Feuerwaffen f?r 3 Mark, um, wie er wohlwollen bemerkte, die Besitzer der Waffen vor einem Strafantrag des Staatsanwalts zu bewahren. Er machte gute Gesch?fte, aber schlie?lich erfuhr die Beh?rde von seinen Manipulationen und setzte ihn hinter Schlo? und Riegel.
[August 1893]

A fraudster was arrested in Apolda. Many owners of small arms, especially those in rural areas, have missed the deadline within which the owners of such firearms were obliged to have them marked with the legal in-stock mark. Twenty-two-year-old Paul Schaub speculated on this fact. He visited a large number of hunting tenants in neighbouring towns under the guise of a judicial auditor to examine the barrels and breeches of handguns and found things “not right” in numerous places. However, the “Mr. Auditor” gave mercy for justice and stamped all the firearms that were still in arrears for 3 Marks in order, as he benevolently noted, to protect the owners of the firearms from being prosecuted by the public prosecutor. He did good business, but eventually the authorities found out about his manipulations and put him behind bars.

Peter

[algmule]

Hello

Again, do not bawl at me if the translation is a bit off. Bawl at Google Translate if you are such inclined. The below from November 1894.

01-Vorrathzeichen.jpg

Meiningen, November 1st. Jury Court. In the dock today are 1) gunsmith Jacob Ra?mann von Mehlis, 2) gunsmith Ferdinand K?nig von Mehlis, 3) gunsmith Julius Gottfried Ansch?tz, of the same place, 4) revolver maker Julius Dill, of the same place, all of whom are accused of public forgery with a lucrative intent and offenses against ? 9 of the Imperial Law of May 19, 1891, concerning proof houses. Finally, 5) the engraver Eduard Ansch?tz is accused of knowingly aiding Dill. The defendants are all married men, some of whom have families with 9 or 10 children, all of whom are unpunished except for the last-named, who was punished for a hunting offense. The forgery they are alleged to have committed is based, as the "Werra-Zeitung" reports, on the fact that they themselves produced the required official stamps on guns they manufactured and made use of the forged documents by selling the guns; Eduard Ansch?tz supplied such a stamp for Dill and is thus alleged to have been guilty of aiding and abetting. The law of May 19, 1891, stipulated that all handguns manufactured and placed on the market after April 1, 1893, had to be tested in the proof houses to be established and provided with an inspection and proof mark. Guns in stock before that date could still be sold without testing, but had to be provided with an official in-stock mark by the end of March 1893. This in-stock mark consisted of a V with a crown, the proof marks and the inspection mark of a U with a crown. Ra?mann is now accused of not having approximately 1,000 Terzerols tested between April 1 and 1894, but of having stamped them himself with a forged mark, as if they had been properly proofed by the proof house. He pleads not guilty. During audits, Terzerols were found in the possession of businessmen that were in fact stamped with forged marks; Among other things, such items were in the possession of the businessman Stier in Mehlis, and these are said to have come from Ra?mann. The latter manufactured many such Terzerols and estimates the number as of April 1st to be several thousand. He had 3,615 pieces officially stamped, so that there is only a difference of 200 between the number of stamped and manufactured weapons. This is explained by the fact that rejected double-barreled pistols, where perhaps only one barrel was defective, were not counted; complaints occurred weekly, and this explains the discrepancy. K?nig primarily manufactures Flobert pistols. He is alleged to have illegally stamped a number of these weapons with an in-stock mark. Ten of these falsely stamped pistols were found at the businessman Wesche's in Zella, and it was suspected that they had been purchased from K?nig. However, neither Wesche nor his bookkeeper know for sure whether K?nig was the supplier; they only believe it. Twelve falsely stamped pistols were also found in the K?nig residence, but K?nig states that he does not know how these false stamps got there. The accused, Julius Gottfried Ansch?tz, confesses that he personally stamped approximately 2,000 Flobert pistols with an in-stock stamp. He made the dies himself. He had large orders for these parlor guns. However, the proof house no longer accepted them for testing because they had no special breech face, with only the hammer acting as the breech. Therefore, he could not have actually delivered the desired pistols, even though he had manufactured them. Similar pistols, also without a special breech, are imported into Germany from Belgium, and the stamp affixed there is recognized as sufficient in our country. It has even happened that Mehlis's products were sent to Belgium, stamped there, and then returned to Germany. Revolver maker Dill also confesses to having falsely stamped 300 to 400 revolvers with an in-stock stamp. He claims that these revolvers were returned to him by the proof house as unfit for firing because the cylinder holes were drilled too wide. He therefore had a stamp made and had the revolvers stamped so that he could still sell them. Proof inspector Ditzel does not believe that so many weapons were rejected. This stamp was made by the last accused, engraver Eduard Ansch?tz. He denies that he knew what purpose Dill had in mind for the stamp. He simply carried out an order and was paid 4 marks for it. Due to the somewhat complicated legal situation of the case, it was necessary to ask 24 questions, the deliberation of which took some time. The jury's verdict found all the accused guilty, only the engraver Ansch?tz was denied guilt; K?nig was only found guilty of attempted forgery and all those found guilty were granted mitigating circumstances. Accordingly, Ed. Ansch?tz was acquitted, and Ra?mann was sentenced to 9 months, K?nig to 6 weeks, Julius G. Ansch?tz to 6 months and Dill to 4 months in prison.

The above another example of people trying to dodge the proof laws.

Peter