German Mauser Sporter by Edward Kettner

[albayo]

A gentleman was over to my place today and he brought a really nice Mauser in 30-06. It has Suhl - Germany on the left side of the barrel near the receiver and Edward Kettner on the other put Edward Kettners name is upside down. If you look at Suhl - Germany and continue to turn the gun over then Edward Kettners name comes up.
The stock is quite comfortable, slim lines and checkered pistol grip and foreatock. The barrel is 610 mm long, light not bulky like some guns. On the top of the barrel is a checkered bridge running the full length, with express sights and a single post for the front.
I liked the set triggers, the front one must have been set for less than a pound. The only thing that puzzles me is it has a traditional Mauser safety on the bolt sleeve and another one neatly implanted on the stock. It is located on the left side of the stock above and is back closer to where thumb would rest.
Why would it have two types of safeties?
Does anyone know anything about the builder?

 

[MetricMan]

From what I understand, Edward Kettner built firearms in Cologne, Germany. I don't believe this company is around anymore. Your gun is likely an interwar gun, a rough date could be determined, depends on the proof marks. Kettners are high quality firearms. The firm built shotguns, combination guns (drillings etc.) and rifles. The two safeties are features found on some quality German firearms. I have a Brenneke rifle that has exactly the same safety set up as the Kettner you describe. The safety located on the side of the stock is a Greener type safety that is a trigger safety, while the one on the bolt shroud is (obviously) a striker safety. Why does it have both types? Good question. Sorry for the paucity of information, but I'm not too familiar with these particular firearms.

 

[albayo]

Mauser Custom Sporter By Edward Kettner

I have searched the internet and it seems most of Edward Kettners sales were combination guns and doubles but less rifles.
Rifles are only briefly mentioned in the information.

 

[farshot]

It may have two safeties for the simple reason that the original bolt has been lost. This is relatively common with the older firearms - the bolt was separated for "storage" and lost or the rifle was picked up by the police when the widow got worried about the rifle in the corner of the house now that her husband is gone.

The police may destroy the bolt along with any mags and ammo that they pick up (they sometimes do that - especially these days). The rifle is sold without a bolt and since it is a 98 Mauser, a different bolt fits. That bolt however usually will be merely an old military bolt that still has the military swing safety and voila - 2 safeties on the rifle!

Or - as was mentioned - it was built that way as a redundancy system that a customer may have preferred.

They are nice rifles the Kettners - I do believe I have one in my collection as well.

 

[looch]

The trigger may have been replaced with one having a safety in order to avoid the headache associated with traditional Mauser safeties and scope clearances.

 

[1899]

Eduard Kettner has a chain of sporting goods outlets across Europe; they are similar to Cabela's and Wholesale Sports and were one of the first to implement mail order sales. They sell lots of clothing, boots and other gear in addition to firearms.

I don't know much about the older mausers (Kettner did own a factory in Suhl), but they still sell their own brand of M98 today. These rifles are built by Zastava, so they are basically the same as Remington's 799 and 798. They come in a variety of configurations and calibers that are not available here - Drukjagd (short, designed for driven hunts), full stock, and so on.