Suhl Research History

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brad541thb

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I have talked to a guy that has done some Suhl 150 research. This is what he has come up with. I thought I would share it with you guys that thought Davidsons or Jim Williams was the first to import Suhls to the US. I know Kent Owens has told me personally that he was at Davidsons in 1986 when they first had Suhls for sale for $175. But this guy had them apparently before that. I also found out that the very first Suhl 150's apparently were made in 1973 instead of 1974 for a date of origin. The guy that sent me this has a Suhl 150 stamped 1973 on the barrel.

Here's the info.

My Suhl research has led me to a Savannah,Ga. gun dealer who went to Germany in 1984 and purchased ,220 Suhl 150 rifles as well as 28 Suhl Biathlon riflles from the GDR Olympic Commitee. All these rifles have a Savannah Ga. import stamp. I'm compiling a list of those serial numbers. Will keep you posted. I own 3 of these Suhls , 2 Biathlons and 1 Suhl-150.The 150 is serial# 40689,dated 12/73. This gun dealer also has spare parts for the Suhls.

The gun dealer is not Jim Williams. He is Tony Sterno, his import stamp is ; CMO
Sav.,Ga. He claims to have had 220 Suhls in his Gun Shop before Davidsons. He sold his for $325.I bought his last Suhl,a left hand stock model.He claims mine is the only one left hand model he's heard of. Tony told me he bought 3 Suhls from Davidsons in the fall of 1986 to fill an order,because he had sold his 220 Suhls. Still researching,will keep you posted. Chip

Very interesting stuff Chip.

And thanks for sharing it with me.

BC
 
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Suhl

Brad,
I remember these rifles being advertized for sale in Precision Shooting. It was a full page a ,possibly the back cover. I don"t remember who had them for sale but I don't believe it was Williams. Williams did however offer some at a later date in various Accuracy stages. The better it shot the more$$.
I hope I did not tell you something you already knew. Maybe someone will chime in with the ad data.
Jim:)
 
Hippy,

You might want to re-read my post. This guy Chip says Tony Sterno was the first person to import Suhls to the US according to his research.
 
I mentioned Jim WIlliams name because some think he imported some Suhls. I know Jim bought a bunch to sale as fixed up bench rifles. But my guess is Jim bought his from either this guy or Davidsons. If I had to guess since Jim is from the GA area, I would say he bought them from both.
 
Suhl

Further research may also indicate a possible other source as well. The earliest ads I recall were not in PS, but in the then Shotgun News and the NRA's "Shooting Sports" magazine. They were handled by Accuracy International (John Foster), out of Bozeman, MT.
John, being an International and Olympic shooter for years may be another avenue to look into.

bjm
 
Would Suhl's have actually been for sale in the United States prior to the fall of the East German communist government? If I remember correctly, that happened in 1989. The reason the Suhl's were sold in the first place was because East Germany needed cash quick since they no longer had Russian support. Did that cash crunch come before or after the fall of the wall? If Suhl's were sold in 1986 wouldn't they have had to be either initially sold by the East German government that owned them or acquired illegally by a smuggler? Just some questions to ponder. The first one I ever saw was in 1992 at a pawn shop. It did not have the Davidson stamp on it, and I found no importer's stamp on it. All the other Suhls I saw around that time had Davidson's prominently displayed. A lot of people I know referred to them as Davidson 150's. The price was $175.
 
Good info guys. Brian, if you hear anymore about Suhl history from the guy you mentioned please list it here. I know your a smart man when it comes to Anschutz and Suhl info. I know my Suhl has Davidsons of Raleigh, NC stamped on the side of the barrel. Mine was stamped 11/74. Chip's the first guy that has one stamped 12/73 that I know of. That would be one of the earliest model Suhl 150's made that I am aware of. I believe Precison Shooter magazine in Apr of 2004 had a Suhl article about Gary Mitchell's Suhl. Gary said his was made in I believe around the Summer of 74.
 
The last year that I have heard the Suhl 150-1 model to be made was 1991. I seen that on Century's website I believe.

What I would like to know is how many Suhls were made. And how many in fact found there way to the US.

Interesting stuff!
 
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