Silver Lifetime
- Messages
- 623
- Reactions
- 1,533
During tourist travel to East Berlin in the early 1980s (before the wall came down), I was able to buy a pretty nice air rifle for a remarkably low price. My sons and I enjoyed plinking with it off & on over the next few years, but it went into storage in about 1993 when we all grew up and went separate ways.
I recently uncovered that air rifle among a number of other things that we haven't touched for decades. All the parts seem to be there, and it still shoots; however, it has developed some surface rust spots. Wondering about value (i.e. is it actually worth restoring?), I found some markings indicating it is a Model 303 Super, manufactured in Suhl, Germany (which was still GDR at that time), by the Haenel company. A little googling revealed that the Haenel company, founded in 1840, is a rather well-known manufacturer of firearms. Yes, it's the same Haenel that manufactured the Schmeisser.
I'll try to attach photos so you can see what I have; if I'm lucky, someone might be able to judge whether it looks restorable. I would also welcome advice regarding how to go about it (or who to have do the work, since that would be totally new territory for me). I'm responsible for the out-of-focus pictures. Photography is also strange territory for me, although I managed some decent shots of the rust spots. The detailed shots showing the markings and foresight (all identical to mine) were cropped from some pics that I found on-line.
I recently uncovered that air rifle among a number of other things that we haven't touched for decades. All the parts seem to be there, and it still shoots; however, it has developed some surface rust spots. Wondering about value (i.e. is it actually worth restoring?), I found some markings indicating it is a Model 303 Super, manufactured in Suhl, Germany (which was still GDR at that time), by the Haenel company. A little googling revealed that the Haenel company, founded in 1840, is a rather well-known manufacturer of firearms. Yes, it's the same Haenel that manufactured the Schmeisser.
I'll try to attach photos so you can see what I have; if I'm lucky, someone might be able to judge whether it looks restorable. I would also welcome advice regarding how to go about it (or who to have do the work, since that would be totally new territory for me). I'm responsible for the out-of-focus pictures. Photography is also strange territory for me, although I managed some decent shots of the rust spots. The detailed shots showing the markings and foresight (all identical to mine) were cropped from some pics that I found on-line.
Last Edited: