Special Greenheart DSM34 With others.

[mauser99]

I was gifted this special rifle the other day. Greenheart DSM's have always been one of my favorites as the logo always had a great look to it.
I sold my other so I was without one and a Buddy saw this turn up in a local shop.
I was told about it and never in a Million years did I expect to see what arrived. Also having access to an amazing collection helped me be able to put it side by side with two other examples from the same family.

What the rifle is a DSM34 from consortium Greenheart with an Odd branded stock spelling out MERKLE just forward the trigger guard. Of note: and was not mentioned to me was the stock was also marked RF/SS on the right side.

We have had long discussions of the meaning of the RF in the RF/SS mark and I think I had it nailed down. Position of the RF/SS differs from Maker to maker from noting existing legit examples. Mauser placed or had them placed on the right side just under the take down disc.
I have owned a WSS that was on the left side also. Posted here I believe ? Rifle has been sold.

I know of two Weihrauch dsm34's with RF/ss markings both were owned by members here. Both were within 10-20 digits of one another.

This Greenheart Is one of one Known to this point to me Others may know of others ? With RF/SS marking.
I was lucky enough to be able to place one known Weihrauch next to the greenheart. Placement is identical. So these stamps were either added at the factory after purchase by the S/A or SS in the case or were added after purchase. My thought now is they were added by the individual firms as why would placement differ if they were all done @ the SS training barracks ? This is of course just a hunch and we may never know. These are so scarce trying to get more than one example of any is a task and getting two together is near impossible.

I have been very lucky and blessed and driven as a collector I have been able to find and piece things together that seemed near impossible to do.

 

[mauser99]

photos.

Merkle branded stock on the bottom of Greenheart dsm34 Also RF/SS marked. This one is rifle with sling in foreground.

 

[mauser99]

Photos left to right.. Greenheart dsm34's one serial # 3912 other 3924
Weihrauch dsm RF/SS and Greenheart RF/SS

 

[mauser99]

Greenheart dsm34 serial 3912 and 3924 together again 70+ years later. No doubt were probably being assembled at the same time on the floor.
One is SS marked the other isn't.

 

[tanker1]

Well done! I wish I could take pics half as good as yours. Ron

 

[mauser99]

Thanks Ron. I cant. I took them but with an I-phone 6s I think its called ?? They are amazing.

My flip phone doesn't take the same quality photos..

 

[abat343]

Wayne, is that the Weihrauch you got from me? Looks like it. Gil

 

[mauser99]

Wayne, is that the Weihrauch you got from me? Looks like it. Gil

Yes Gil that is it ! The only other one known was in Craig Browns collection. He recently passed away and his collection was sold. It didn't surface so maybe the museum kept it ? Im sure they kept some stuff and sold the rest. They were 10 or 20 digits apart.
There is a thread here somewhere that talks about it.

 

[Peter S]

Here are a couple of pictures of the one Craig owned.

 

[mauser99]

Thanks Pete ! I remember speaking to Craig many times about this rifle. He said it was a walk-in out at the big-e many years ago.
The one I owned was sourced from Texas via south Carolina. serial; # was 21082 so we can base an allotment based off that spread but, assume there were more ? I'm also going out on a limb to say HZW may have finished the Greenhearts and SS allotments were combined with both receiver types.

 

[mauser99]

mystery Merkle mark

Ok, when told about the rifle and the Merkle marking I assumed some association with the Merkel firm. This is not the case. The spelling is different Not seeing it till just the other day and starring at it today The spelling of the Merkel rifle firm and this Merkle differ. So scratch the thought. Merkel is in Suhl and it made no sense anyway but, that's all I had.

 

[luftmacher]

Great pictures, and great examples---thanks for sharing!
Steve

 

[Bob in OHIO]

Agreed... very very sweet dsm

 

[luftmacher]

As a sidebar to this thread on DSMs from the Greenheart consortium, I think we have determined the identity of one of the barrel mechanics who marked some few of these with an enigmatic "HS" trademark. Further research has turned up the likelihood that this was work done by Hermann Schneider of Zella-Mehlis, judging by similar work documented on other firearms during the same period. The first photo shows the "HS" mark on a Thüringen "Greenheart" DSM which raised the question, and the second photo shows Schneider's line on a rebarreled bcd 43 commercial rifle. Every little piece of the puzzle helps provide a better view of the big picture. Schneider would not likely have been a member per se of the consortium, but just another small gunmaker who benefited from work made available by these two small groups.
Steve

 

[mauser99]

Sling photos

As promised here is the sling. I never noticed the out mark as its faint and hidden by the tanning and then removed the sling and found it was branded in the inside as well ! Sling is in very good condition. I cant seem to make and connection to the marking and the rifle ? Owners sir-name is the best guess.