Hermann Gerlich & Halbe (Halger)

By Larry B. Schuknecht

The following is a collection of articles about the Ammunition developments of Hermann Gerlich and his rifles. The first is an article that appeared in the 1953 Gun Digest written by Phil Sharpe. It is a later article but I list it first because he tells us a little bit about Hermann’s background and personality. The Second is an article by Hermann himself which appeared in the Sept. 1930 American Rifleman and the same article also appeared in the May-June 1930 Army Ordnance. The third article appeared in the May 5, 1928 edition of Deutscher Förster. Sadly when down loaded and printed a few line at the bottom of each page was cut off. As I come across images of his guns I will add them to this page.

The Pape & Kellner archive has the following to say about Halbe & Gerlich:

HALBE & GERLICH Hamburg 24, Papenhuder Straße 26, Neckelmannstraße 2. Owner: Halbe and Gerlich. Halger Weapons Factory. Manufacture and distribution of hunting weapons, specialist in tapered barrels. Q: DWL 1925, correspondence RWS. Documented: 1926, 1929. Branch in Kiel. Düppelstraße 71, HALGER. Documented 1923.

Following are three Halger rifles which have recently sold at auction.

Halger-Waffen ,Kiel Square bridge Magnum Mauser action in .280 Halger High Velocity Magnum. 28 1/2″ barrel of Krupp 3-ring steel with single standing express sight, ramp front sight, under-barrel recoil lug and barrel-band swivel. Banner Mauser Magnum Squarebridge action number 91291 built in 1924, all matching, with extended checkered bolt knob, case hardened bolt assembly, double set trigger, hinged straddle floorplate with release in trigger guard bow and both Greener-type safety and standard Mauser safety. Figured walnut stock with horn forend tip, horn heel and toe plates and beaded cheekpiece. Trapdoor pistol grip cap with extra front bead and sight hood. J P Sauer number 261986 on action and barrel, Halger number 177 on action and barrel. German pre-war commercial BUG proofs dated 1932. Weight: 9lbs, 6oz. Reputedly ex-Winchester Experimental Dept. collection. Beautiful mint original condition.  $12,750.

Cal. 280 Halger. S# 111. Halger Mauser sporters were available in standard cals. & 3 proprietary chamberings: 244, 280 & 355. The 280 Magnum was the most popular & used a semi-rimmed case dimensionally the same as the 280 Ross. Using the 100g bullet the advertised muzzle velocity was 3,900 fps. Bbl. 28 1/2″ tapered round of Bohler Special Steel. Bbl. is marked “Halger Waffen Hamburg”. Bbl. & left side of receiver are marked “Halger No. 111”. Ramp mounted bead front sight w/ island mounted standing V notch rear sight. “Carl Zeiss Jena Zielsechs No. 70658″ scope w/ European 3 post reticle on claw mounts. M98 Magnum action w/ claw extractor & 3 position cocking piece safety. Turned down bolt handle has 2 panel hand checkering. Left side of stock is fitted w/ a Greener style side safety. Single set trigger is finely hand checkered. Hinged floorplate. Classic style sporter stock of European walnut. Features include point pattern hand checkering, steel grip cap & sling swivels, front swivel is bbl. band mounted. LOP: 13 3/4” to a checkered butt w/ horn, heel & toeplates. WEIGHT w/ scope: 10 lbs, 4 oz. CONDITION: bbl. retains over 95% lightly faded blue showing muzzle wear. Action, floorplate & grip cap finish has faded to a mottled gray. Stock has worn finish showing dents & marks w/ spots of dark staining. Bore is bright w/ sharp rifling. Scope has clear optics. (24-747/DS). CURIO. $10,000-15,000.

(1931) The Halger firm retailed a line of hyper velocity (for the time) cartridges and built very expensive rifles to handle them. The most famous cartridge was the .280 Halger magnum which was based on the .280 Ross case at advertised velocities well in excess of 3000 feet per second. The .244 Halger magnum is very seldom seen, but Halger advertising indicated an 87 grain bullet reached 3770 feet per second at the muzzle! From existing specimens of these rifles, it seems that Halger sourced his barrels and actions from J. P. Sauer & Sohn, with Sauer serial numbers. This rifle has 26″ tapered round barrel mounted with one standing leaf rear and silver bead front in square sleeved-on block. Top of barrel is engraved “Halger – Waffen, Kiel” and marked “Krupp – Laufstahl”. Bottom of barrel is stamped with December 1931 German nitro proofs. Standard length large ring Model 98 action is engraved “HALGER No 33” and with proofs and serial number on left side of nicely matted receiver ring. Top of sidewall is engraved “Halger .244 H. V. Magnum”. Case hardened bolt has had handle turned down and lengthened. Knob is checkered in two round panels. Double pull trigger is retained, and bottom metal has removable floorplate retained by lever at rear. Rear portion of barrel and action bridge are fitted with claw scope bases. Lightly figured European walnut steel capped pistol grip stock measures 13″ over composition buttplate with Sauer logo. A Greener type side safety is installed. There is well cut closely spaced point pattern checkering at grip and on both sides of long slim schnabeled forend. Weight: 7 lbs. 13 oz. CONDITION: Good to fine, as found. Metal parts retain most of their original blue with stains and wear evident overall considerably worn on trigger guard. Stock retains most of its original finish with a large number of knocks and dings, with some very deep marks on left side of forend checkering, which is worn and dirty. Bore is very fine to excellent, with strong rifling throughout, with a bit of erosion at throat. PROVENANCE: Estate Collection of Francis Brown. MGM 108. Barrel Length: 26″ Caliber/Bore: .244 Halger High Velocity Magnum FFL Status: Curio & Relic Length of Pull: 13″ Manufacturer: Halger Model: Bolt Serial Number: 261956 (Sauer) Halger no. 33Condition: Dimensions: