KAISER WILHELM I's SHOTGUN
This gun is for sale. Go to ANTIQUE FIREARMS FOR SALE .
A percussion, muzzleloading double shotgun ( doppleflinte ) owned by Wilhelm von Hohenzollern, Regent and King of Prussia, Kaiser Wilhelm I, Wilhelm the Great ( Wilhelm der Grosse ), founder and first Emperor of the Second Reich.
This fine 17mm (16 gauge) percussion fowler was made by F. Mundt of Neuwedell, Prussia, for Kaiser Wilhem I, most likely when he was Crown Prince and Regent of Prussia. It has elegant lines of very modern dimensions, unlike the usual clumsy teutonic shotgun of the era, with back action locks, silver inlays, and german silver furnishings with extensive engraving. In the fall of 1861, while hunting on his estate near Brandenburg Wilhelm, who had just become King of Prussia, fell off his horse. He landed on the shotgun, breaking the stock and one hammer, and discharging it into his leg. Wilhelm gave the broken gun to his guide, Friederich Pomrenke. In 1866 Mr. Pomrenke emigrated to the United States. He brought the shotgun with him, and crudely repaired it using wire, nails, and a hammer made by a blacksmith. He hunted with the gun up until 1920, when he gave it to his grandson.
Close up details of restored stock, engraving, silver inlays of rabbits.
Weight
6 pounds with sling
Dimensions (Note: The pull and drop are the same as the average modern shotgun.)
Pull - to forward trigger 14 inches
Drop - At heel, 3 inches. At comb, 1.5 inches. At toe, 8 inches.
Barrel - Length - 33.4 inches. Bore -17mm (16 gauge) cylinder bore
Materials
Stock - European walnut.
Horn - Ebony wood.
Barrels, ribs - steel twist.
Trigger guard, buttplate, thimbles - German (nickel) silver.
Ramrod - Rosewood, horn tip.
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