Kessler’s of Suhl
Albin Kessler- Referances give active dates of 1913, 1930 as a gunmaker and 1939 as a gunsmith. Located in Suhl
Bernhard Kessler- (1875- 1952) minor gunmaker in Suhl. Competitor in the 15th Bunesschiessen in 1906.
Friedrich Wilhelm Kessler (F-W-K)- (July 26, 1845-Sept. 7, 1919) founded the firm F. W. Kessler- Gewehrfabrik in 1869. They produced a large range of sporting guns. Located at Kleine Bacstrasse 1 they produced a Henry-Martini rifle which was distinquishable by its one piece stock surrounding the action.
Friedrich W. Kessler was issued four German patents which were-
no. 13702 of May 19, 1881 for a Henry-Martini Single Shot Action (below)
Our friend Axel Pantermühl in Germany has graciously shared two rare images of a cutaway gun from Kessler based on the DRP 13702. A very interesting pair of images.
no. 48337 of Feb. 14, 1889 for a lock mechanism with straight line sliding hammers or strikers (below)
No. 62231 of Aug. 8, 1891 for a lock mechanism with mainsprings mounted on side plates. (below)
no. 90528 of Feb. 11, 1896 for a Blitz or Trigger Plate lock mechanism with a hand grip safety (below)
The following F. W. Kessler catalog was kindly made available by our friend Axel Pantermühl in Germany from his extensive archive. Click Here to view the full catalog.
In 2002 Mr. Bill Lewis sent the following pictures of a F. W. Kessler shotgun to Dietrich with a request for more information. The gun is interesting because it is marked as using an action covered by D.R.P. 7142 which was issued to Franz Feist of Sommerschenburg near Wefensleben on Nov. 25, 1879. First I will show the gun which will be followed by the patent.
Following are pictures of a side by side shotgun built on patent no. 62231. It does not have a makers name on it but it does have the name of the origional owner- Carl Grünig of Wiesbaden. It is also marked “DRP 62231” on the receiver water table.
