That is very true. The standard line is that "only the wealthy/nobility could afford guns in Europe". Well, that ain't so. Not in the German states, anyway. Every little hamlet seems to have had at least one gunsmith. Target shooting was THE sport of the day, enjoyed by all classes. Hunting had restrictions, but every state was different, and I don't know exactly how things went. As I understand it, small game hunting was generally OK for ordinary folks, but large game might be restricted to nobility (I don't know about whether or not one could hunt large game on their own property...).
There are LOTS of "ordinary grade" German rifles and smoothbores. They just don't get "published". Also, you will find engraving more common on German guns, as opposed to American guns of the same "grade". This is because there was much more of a factory system involved, and there would be people who engraved gun hardware, all day, every day (and they got real good at it). This mass production made it cheaper to get engraved hardware.
I have gone through all my books and catalogs and counted German rifles and smoothbores, and got a ratio of about 60:40 rifles to smoothbores. In "real life" I see many more smoothbores than rifles.
Feel free to browse my photo album showing a limited number of German guns.
www.photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/Original Flintlocks
www.photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/Original Flintlocks/GermanFowler
(this gun is in less than stellar condition...it's not my fault! Eventually, I'll get it into a more presentable state.) The engraving on this gun is absolutely flawless. The barrel was originally rather longer. When I got it, the barrel was cut down to 30 some odd inches, and an underrib was screwed to the bottom of the barrel. A bad reconversion with Siler parts. The buttplate has a trap for a bayonet, a minor fad at the time. Wish I had the bayonet! I have photos of a rifle that is obviously by the same maker (in much nicer condition). The lock on that one is from Liege, I'll assume a mass produced purchased lock.
www.photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/Original Flintlocks/GermanRifle
Tip Curtis had this very neat rifle a few years ago.
www.photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/Original Flintlocks/1830Stutzen
This little rifle uses a much older, bridle-less lock, but I believe the gun was always percussion. I need to make a new tumbler for this lock, the original one was ruined by some previous "gunsmith".
www.photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/Original Flintlocks/SpanishStyle
This one is my nicest, most original gun. 1720, or thereabouts. About .50, smooth, and weighs like six pounds, if that much.
There are NO marks on any of these guns (well, Tip's rifle might have a mark somewhere, I don't know), except for the SVLA mark inside the lockplate of the Spanish styled gun (the town mark for Suhl). It is very common to see an unmarked German gun.
