I realize that after WWII, the original JP Sauer, Merkel, Simon, and other facilities were essentially combined into one big conglomerate. Many times the same model was labeled with a different barns name, despite it being the same gun off the same line. The Merkel and JP Sauer 47 (or 147 or whatever) being the one that seems to make the most sense to me. As I understand it, there is some controversy whether it is fair to have called these guns by their manufacturer's name when they were really not being run by those families anymore. I get why pre-war guns are more valuable/desireable.

What seems less clear (to me, anyway) is whether - on average - they are solid, reliable guns. Simpsons Ltd. has several and generally list price ranges from a few hundred dollars to the low $2k range (depending on condition, level of refinement, etc.). GB, notorious for people over-inflating their initial asking prices seems to start in the mid $1k range and go up to the mid $3k's.

If someone is interested in finding a good condition, modestly refined (nice lines, some engraving but not tons) shotgun that can safely and reliably shoot off-the-shelf modern target or game loads, is one of these a valid option? What price range should that person actually expect to pay?

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The range has a pretty wide girth, even post WWII. There was an importer & for the life of me I cannot think of the name, but they were retailing them here in the hundreds of $ and then there are some examples that fetch pre-WWII values. Most of the post WWII examples had a low value millstone hung around their necks for being built on inferior materials. In the early 1950s, the craftsman in Suhl all but revolted demanding proper base materials.

Then there's the 3 sided story of Otto Rief; the Germans, the Russians & history.....

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

I am not sure if this is the importer that Raimey was thinking of or not.

The T&G German Gun Group in Mobile Alabama has been importing a variety of German hunting guns (including shotguns, rifles and drillings) and other Continental guns (Austria, Italy, Spain, Belgium).
http://www.german-gun-imports.com/About ... formation/

Contact them (George Inge) and they'll connect you to their Signal app group for the guns that they offer daily. These guns are in Germany now. Recent onerous changes in EEU taxation policy has made it prohibitively expensive to keep these guns in private ownership in Germany, so many folks are selling them off to exporters or are turning them in to the government authorities for destruction.

There are transportation and shipping fees of about $195 per gun and the federal 11% excise tax to add and pay on each imported gun, but the TGGI prices tend to be below what you will see on GA or GI for comparable German or Continental guns. Probably takes 3 to 6 months to actually get your hands on a gun that you buy this way.

They are used guns and their condition and refinement varies greatly. Some will be pre WWII manufacture and some (most) after. But, on average, they seem to be solid and reliable guns. Prices run from $500 up to $3,000 / $3500 per gun plus the add on fees and excise tax that I mentioned.

You'll have to be the judge of value.

Thanks for the link. I had heard about a group doing that, but I wasn't sure who.

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I've purchased several of those guns from Simpson Ltd. I don't see any reason to pay more as long as they have them. The good ones go fast though. If you don't grab it the day it's posted on the website, you'll be picking through the dregs.