mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-I'm sure most of you who have been hanging about for any decent stretch of time are wondering where I managed to find yet another .22 training rifle. Well I live to please and have found something extremely uncommon, bordering on rare. Bob Simpson has a few but his are the only ones I've ever run across up to now. The rifle type is very common: a Deutches Sportmodell 34 or DSM34. But the manufacturer is what's special: Menz based in Suhl.
-August Menz is primarily known for his pocket pistols like the Liliput. Later in 1938 his firm was bought out by Theodor Bergmann. Menz only built approx. 4,200 DSM34s and this one is number 622. These early examples, below SN 1000, have an oval logo on the receiver. Later ones have a rectangular banner.
-I found this puppy hidden away in what was primarily a sporting arms auction. While not in the best condition, it mattered little to me as a Menz DSM34 is very much a unicorn. Beyond hard to find. Over the years Bob Simpson assembled lists of SNs and notes for all the German training rifles he ran across. Over his collecting lifetime he gathered only 20 examples of Menz DSM34. This one is not in his list, a new discovery. So I was shocked to land it paying about a third of what Bob Simpson is selling his three Menz rifles for. I can definitely live with that. And it has the all-too-often missing "cleaning rod". Just needs a sling to be complete.
-August Menz is primarily known for his pocket pistols like the Liliput. Later in 1938 his firm was bought out by Theodor Bergmann. Menz only built approx. 4,200 DSM34s and this one is number 622. These early examples, below SN 1000, have an oval logo on the receiver. Later ones have a rectangular banner.
-I found this puppy hidden away in what was primarily a sporting arms auction. While not in the best condition, it mattered little to me as a Menz DSM34 is very much a unicorn. Beyond hard to find. Over the years Bob Simpson assembled lists of SNs and notes for all the German training rifles he ran across. Over his collecting lifetime he gathered only 20 examples of Menz DSM34. This one is not in his list, a new discovery. So I was shocked to land it paying about a third of what Bob Simpson is selling his three Menz rifles for. I can definitely live with that. And it has the all-too-often missing "cleaning rod". Just needs a sling to be complete.
