Hi,
Here I have two shotshells from hirtenberg.
Both 16 ga.
Headstamp reads kriegspatrone!
Meaning war time.
Is this first or second war??
Sorry for poor pictures
1 Like
World War 1, in my opinion using paper (“special priming for self-loading shotguns”) from prewar stocks. I think there was basically only the “enemy” Browning design at that time.
Keep in mind that Hirtenberger in 1938 had been expropriated by the Nazis and made part of the Gustloff combine.
1 Like
I thought shotguns were deemed “too powerful for warfare” by the Europeans and that was why Americans were the only ones to field shotguns in WWI and WWII. So why “Kriegspantone”?
Kriegspatrone means a cartrigde of lower than usual quality and simpler construction, due to shortages of material (in particular the copper needed for brass) and skilled labor. The name is intended to say “the wartime conditions forces us to offer you this low-quality product.”
It is correct that Germany (and I think Austria) in WW1 as well as today consider the use of shotguns against personnel as a war crime.
Edited for clarity.
2 Likes
So “Kriegspatrone” means “cartridge made during war”?
Thanks for clearing things for me Jochem!!