Simson, Suhl 16ga sxs 7x57R under. Made in GDR

16GA x7X57R with a 22WMR sleeve in the right 16ga barrel!

Excellent condition with beautiful carved stock.

This is a Simson Suhl drilling (three-barrel combination gun) made in the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany), marked “SIMSON SUHL / MADE IN GDR.”
The photos show a classic European-style boxlock drilling with side-by-side shotgun barrels over a rifle barrel (confirmed by the breech-face view with three chambers), coin-finished/engraved receiver featuring oak-leaf and scroll motifs plus a crest or monogram area, checkered walnut forend and pistol-grip stock with a raised cheekpiece, and a carved scene on the buttstock. It is shown with a scope (removable, as seen in other photos) and appears in good overall condition with solid wood and metal finishes.
Company and Production History
Simson traces to 1854–1856, when the Jewish brothers Löb and Moses Simson acquired a steel-hammer works in Suhl (a historic German gunmaking center in Thuringia) and founded Simson & Co. They produced steel, barrels, and firearms, expanding into military rifles (including Gewehr 98 components), hunting guns, bicycles, and later automobiles and motorcycles.
In the 1930s the Nazi regime expropriated (“aryanized”) the Jewish-owned firm; the family fled. It was reorganized as Berlin-Suhler Waffen- und Fahrzeugwerke (BSW) and later Gustloff-Werke – Waffenwerk Suhl, focusing heavily on military production during WWII.
After 1945 the works were partly dismantled for Soviet reparations, operated under Soviet control (SAG Awtowelo), then transferred to the GDR. In 1952 it became the state-owned VEB Fahrzeug- und Gerätewerk Simson Suhl (later merged into larger combines such as VEB Fahrzeug- und Jagdwaffenwerk Ernst Thälmann). Under the Simson name the factory produced hunting and sporting arms (side-by-side shotguns, over/unders, drillings, etc.) for domestic use and especially export (hard-currency markets), alongside the well-known Simson mopeds. GDR-era guns are typically marked “SIMSON SUHL MADE IN GDR” and often “SPECIAL-GEWEHRLAUFSTAHL” (special gun barrel steel), with East German nitro proofs.
Higher-grade export pieces sometimes carried a “Q1” quality mark. Production of these sporting arms continued into the late 1980s; after German reunification the arms side of the business evolved into what became associated with Merkel and other Suhl makers, while the moped line continued for a time under the Simson brand.
These GDR Simson drillings were practical “do-everything” hunting guns—shotgun barrels for birds/small game and a rifle barrel for larger game—and were respected for solid German workmanship even under state-controlled production.

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