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The first GEHA shotguns were made by an optics company (they built components for Zeiss) and guild sporterizer known both as Gebrueder Rempt and alternately as Remo-Gewehrfabrik (Remo Rifle Company). Located in Suhl, Germany. Remo realized that they would go out of business without military contracts during the Weimar Republic era if they didn't think of something pretty quickly. An unknown someone at Remo-Gewehrfabrik then suggested buying surplus Gewehr 98's from what was left of the German Army, and converting them into 12 Gauge shotguns. The earliest Remos were comparable to most Guild Guns, and were heavily engraved in a Mauser sporter-style stock with cheekpiece. A second gun in 16 Gauge (referred to officially as the Remo II) was soon released. The first 12 Gauge Remo was made in 1919. Early Remo shotguns are beautiful. They lack the bluing on the receiver of later guns (a feature shared with the military Gewehr 98 rifle), but set some early precedents. Firstly, a notch was cut in the receiver ring to allow proper sighting of the guns. The safety was also filed down a tad to get a proper sighting plane (though this was omitted from later Remos). In addition, the magazine was modified to hold one shell on each model. Another early feature of these guns was that the receiver wall strengthener/shell deflector was not screwed, but rather welded on. The welding jobs were quite well done, and it is often difficult to see that the shell deflector was not in fact part of the gun’s receiver. The Remo also had a fully choked barrel. Other features included a cheek piece and sling swivels. These guns were factory build on surplus Mauser K98 bolt actions after World War 1 The action’s forward locking lugs are cut away and it locks on the third lug (bolt handle) at the back. There are a loose bolt head fitted to accommodate the larger head of the shot shell. Some had German proof marks. Guns with, “German” on the barrel, was for export before 1920 and with guns with “Made in Germany” on the barrel, was for export after 1920. More remarkable is the beautiful, slim and light gun this combination provides. The neutral weight distribution makes this unusual gun very point-able. The Remo would eventually adopt the screw-on strengthener/deflector and blued receiver, it would retain the fully chocked barrel and a more elegant stock (albeit sans the engraving and cheek piece) throughout the rest of its manufacture. Eventually, to compete with the lower priced GEHA, Remo introduced (possibly in the late 1920s) a lower grade shotgun with a fancier stock than the GEHA, but retained the gewehr 98s military wood. Another measure to compete with the GEHA was fewer concessions to vanity as the years passed, most notably the level of engraving going down. There are a few Remos found without the “Remo” marking, and probably was late production. Remo stayed in business until 1941, but dropped their shotgun around 1933. With the success of the Remo shotgun, Gustav Genschow, Adamy Gebruder and several others began manufacturing two lower priced alternatives to the Remo and gave the base model the acronymized name of the distributor… GEHA. The GEHA was simple. It retained the basic features of the Remo (including the filed safety of the early Remo), But the barrel was simpler. It was cylinder bored, as opposed to the full-choke bores of the Remo (Although a few GEHAs have been noted with fully chocked bores) It also retained the Gewehr 98 stock, and was a no-frills gun without any provisions for a front sling swivel but retained the rear swivel mount from Gewehr 98. The hole for the gewehr 98’s bolt takedown was filled with a medallion reading “GEHA” in script. The GEHA came in three barrel lengths, 26.5”, 27”, and 32”. A few guns were made slug guns with rifled bores. It was put on the market around 1920 or 1921. Many GEHAs were produced, and they were the most common Mauser conversion shotguns. Like Remo, these large companies bought surplus Gewehr 98s from the arsenals for conversion. Many rifles seem to come from Spandau Arsenal as some late-war, as 1918 dated Spandau receivers turn up, with either Pieper or Liege or Siemens & Halske subcontractor marks under the receiver. Because Pieper also made low-end Belgian shotguns in the 1890s -1910s under the name Bayard, some people mistakenly assumed that the GEHA was made by Bayard. The higher-end GEHA was the “Hard Hit Heart”. It differs from the GEHA by usually having a finished stock, a heart instead of “GEHA” on the insert in the stock, which was not made of steel but of well carved wood. A stock cartouche saying “Hard Hit Heart” in a circle above a smiley face heart and finally, a fully chocked barrel as an option. The Hard Hit Heart is not as common as the GEHA but not as uncommon as the Remo The last GEHAs were produced a little before Remo was phased out, possibly around 1932 or 1933. But these now scorned shotguns kept Germany’s arms industry alive, and saved much of it from collapsing during the Weimar Republic. Even the much reknown Heym is said to have made GEHA shotguns. The manufacturers of the GEHA: *Gustav Genschow aka Geco They were early manufacturers of these guns and other well made guns. Due to Jewish ownership, the 3rd Reich distributed Genshow’s asset to Nazi friendly companies. *Adamy Gebrueder This company made an early, well made over and under shotgun, but couldn’t survive on that. *Heym Gebrueder When the company started in 1922 they were producing GEHA shotguns. *Waffenfabrik Simson Due to Jewish ownership Simson was disbanded by the 3rd Reich and the employees distributed. *Krupp Werke They definitely made GEHA barrels, but possibly started making complete guns to survive. One unfortunate thing about the Remo and GEHA is that it is being deemed unsafe by armchair “experts”. This is because it lacks frontal locking lugs and only lock on the third “safety lug” at the rear. They are wrong. The pressures of a shotgun shell is much lower than a rifle and the receivers received heat treatment after it was converted to a shotgun. It is often said they have head spacing problems due to the chambers being for 2 9/16” shells and not 2 3/4” shells. The locking lug must be inspected for cracks, before shooting the gun. It could be damaged before before with the wrong ammo. One genuine problem does, however, exist with the GEHA and its design cousins…that being the bolthead. The sprung, detachable bolthead will sometimes pop out of the gun on quick follow-up shots, and firing the gun with no bolthead is extremely dangerous. When in doubt, look at the bolthead. If you’re in no rush or don’t mind using a single-shot shotgun, this shouldn’t be much of a problem. Another arguable defect is the gun’s hellacious recoil. Due to the extremely light stock, the gun sometimes kicks so hard that if the wood has not been taken care of, it will crack the stock. All in all, the Remo and GEHA is a technological curiosity, a functional shotgun, and a piece of history. This shotgun is classified as a relic in the USA. (ref. Bolt-Action Rifles by Frank de Haas and Dr. Wayne van Zwoll p334, https://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=76058 , https://www.libertytreecollectors.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=6130 )

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