Stupid Question: Guild Rifle

[Demonical]

This will seem like a pretty stupid question but, talking about German 'guild' rilfes, what exactly does that mean? What the hell is a guild rifle? I see the reference everywhere, yet cannot find an explanation as to what a guild rifle is. I guess cuz everybody else already knows...

 

[Baribal]

The guilds were associations of different manufacturers - craftmen - (a bit like a coop here) who manufactured different but complementary or similar products in different locations.
A guild gun is a gun made out of that trade, from parts coming from many manufacturers and assembled together. In the civilian market, they were then sold to distributers / resellers such as Genschow / GECO. It's the couterpart of single company made guns - such as Mauser or Sauer, for example. But even these companies may have dealt with guilds for the supply of some parts.
The guild system was commmon in Europe in trade such as firearms (ex. Liège), clocks, cutlery etc.. it involved brotherhood secrecy and were very closed groups, often with special agreement of the King, or Emperor.

 

[Demonical]

^ Thanks Baribal.

Next question then; are guild rifles less valuable? The Mauser rifles especially seem to have been manufactured by various arsenals. How do you sort out which are better, more desirable?

When I was looking up info on Mauser manufacturers, there's a bewildering number of manufacturers.

 

[Baribal]

Well,
Civilian Guild guns were made in various grades. Some were made on ex-military receivers / barrels / parts while others were made with in the white parts... so, each case is different. Many times, you won't know who made it, but only who "paid to have it built"...
As military "guild guns" goes, they usually supplied parts which were assembled at one manufacurer (not unlike the LSA and SSA L-E were built). The guild then was a sub-contractor for a major plant, not the assembly plant itself. Usually, the assembly plants were spinn-offs or subsidiaries of bigger manufacturers. These plants may or may not have produced parts and / or used parts from the major plants.

The guilds were much more active prior and in the 19th Century and to a lesser extent in the early 20th Century and beyond. Of course, in war time, they were put to contribution.

But usually, when we talk about guild guns, we think "civilian".