Frauenstorfer, Ludwig- Mannheim

By Larry B. Schuknecht

Ludwig Frauenstorfer Jr. (Nov. 19, 1874- March 11, 1952) was born in Osterhofen and operated a shop on Heidelberger Strasse in Mannheim where he was listed as a Master Gunmaker, did gun repair and sold Hunting and Target long guns and handguns. On Nov. 19, 1905 he married Anna Storfinger. Documents or advertisements for him have spanned the years from 1906 to 1945. Even after his death the firm continued to operate through the 1950’s. In 1957 and 1958 the firm contributed prizes to be given away in the shooting competition in the Witterung Waldfest.

The following images are courtesy of Mr. Daryl Beebe and shows a well preserved Drilling Marked L. Frauenstorfer, Mannheim & Ludwigshafen. It is chambered for 16 Ga. over 9 x 57mm Mauser, 27 inch barrels and serial no. 4582.

Early on in Ludwig’s career he may have produced guns in their entirety but by the 1920’s it appears that he gave this up in favor of buying guns from other makers such as Fr. Langenhan and Gebruder Merkel and simply applying his name to the guns. A Fr. Langenhan .22 caliber target rifle sold by www.Feuerbixler.de recently illustrates this.

Following are images of a combination gun marked L. Frauenstorfer-Mannheim which was made by Gebruder Merkel in Suhl. It is 16 Ga. over 9.3 x 72R with 27 inch Krupp Barrels. This gun was recently sold by Cobb’s Auctioneers of Peterborough, N.H. and was found on their website archive.

Another combination gun marked L. Frauenstorfer-Mannheim & Ludwigshafen was sold recently on Guns America by Spragues Sports Inc. It is chambered for 16 Ga.and 9.3 x 72R with 27 inch barrels.

On Dec. 15, 2001 Holt’s Auction house in England sold lot 1008 which was a “Perfekt” model 22 Target Pistol made on Hilmer Stotzer’s design and probably made by Udo Anschutz. Marked-L. Frauenstorfer of course.

Last but not least we have a 98 Mauser bolt action rifle sold on Guns International by Michael Merker Riflemakers in 8 x 57 with a 21 inch barrel. The stock was refinished by them. Again it is marked- L. Frauenstorfer-Mannheim.