*FRANZ SODIA OVER UNDER DOUBLE RIFLE.

*FRANZ SODIA OVER UNDER DOUBLE RIFLE. Cal. 30-06. SN 8089. Beautiful, post-war, Austrian made rifle with 23-5/8″ superposed bbls with matted solid rib, pedestal mounted caterpillar front sight, and 2-leaf express rear sight. It has double bite Greener bbl extensions and double lugs. It has sgl trigger & extractors. Rib has the makers name & address. Mounted with extremely beautiful, skip-line checkered, French walnut with 3-pc forearm and capped pistol grip stock with straight comb & shallow cheek piece, 13-1/2″ over its orig black composition buttplate. Box lock receiver is coin finished with Merkel style double scalloped back edge with Merkel style reinforcements on the sides. It is beautifully game scene engraved with vignettes of two very detailed Cape Buffalo in a veld scene on the left side, two male lions in a woodland scene on the right scene, and a bull elephant in a woodland scene on the bottom, with flourishes of foliate arabesque patterns in the other areas of receiver. The opening lever, top tang, trigger guard and forend iron are engraved to match. Bbls and buttstock have sling swivels which contain a permanently mounted, thin, black leather sling, probably from the factory. Accompanied by information from the consignor which states that this rifle was built for Mr. William Hodgdon, of Ogden, Utah, of the famous gunpowder family, in the 1950’s, which is borne out by the 1958 date on the rifle. Apparently Mr. Hodgdon was a personal friend of Mathieu Browning, nephew of internationally famous John M. Browning, who both served as intelligence officers in Europe during WWII. Mr Hodgdon told consignor that at the end of the war he and Mr. Browning did an inspection tour of the Franz Sodia facility and decided to order identical rifles at a later date. Mr. Hodgdon & Mr. Browning made several safaris to Africa before Mr. Hodgdon suffered a debilitating injury. Having been a graphic artist prior to WWII, Mr. Hodgdon personally designed two of the three scenes engraved on this rifle, with the third scene of the buffalo coming from a photograph taken on of his safaris. Consignor purchased this rifle directly from Mr. Hodgdon just prior to his succumbing to cancer. CONDITION: Extremely fine. Appears to have been fired, but if so very little. Bbls retain about 98% of their orig factory blue, and the receiver all of its orig coin finish. Wood is sound with a minor handling & storage nick or two, and retains virtually all of its fine, hand rubbed oil finish. Mechanics are crisp. Brilliant shiny bores. Sling is fine. The workmanship of this rifle is of the very finest quality with near perfect wood to metal fit. 4-56772 JR227 (10,000-15,000)

Auction: Firearms - Fall 2006

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	1827	$4,025.00	FRANZ SODIA OVER UNDER DOUBLE RIFLE. Cal. 30-06. SN 8089. Beautiful, post-war, Austrian made rifle with 23-5/8″ superposed bbls with matted solid rib, pedestal mounted caterpillar front sight, and 2-leaf express rear sight. It has double bite Greener bbl extensions and double lugs. It has sgl trigger & extractors. Rib has the makers name & address. Mounted with extremely beautiful, skip-line checkered, French walnut with 3-pc forearm and capped pistol grip stock with straight comb & shallow cheek piece, 13-1/2″ over its orig black composition buttplate. Box lock receiver is coin finished with Merkel style double scalloped back edge with Merkel style reinforcements on the sides. It is beautifully game scene engraved with vignettes of two very detailed Cape Buffalo in a veld scene on the left side, two male lions in a woodland scene on the right scene, and a bull elephant in a woodland scene on the bottom, with flourishes of foliate arabesque patterns in the other areas of receiver. The opening lever, top tang, trigger guard and forend iron are engraved to match. Bbls and buttstock have sling swivels which contain a permanently mounted, thin, black leather sling, probably from the factory. Accompanied by information from the consignor which states that this rifle was built for Mr. William Hodgdon, of Ogden, Utah, of the famous gunpowder family, in the 1950’s, which is borne out by the 1958 date on the rifle. Apparently Mr. Hodgdon was a personal friend of Mathieu Browning, nephew of internationally famous John M. Browning, who both served as intelligence officers in Europe during WWII. Mr Hodgdon told consignor that at the end of the war he and Mr. Browning did an inspection tour of the Franz Sodia facility and decided to order identical rifles at a later date. Mr. Hodgdon & Mr. Browning made several safaris to Africa before Mr. Hodgdon suffered a debilitating injury. Having been a graphic artist prior to WWII, Mr. Hodgdon personally designed two of the three scenes engraved on this rifle, with the third scene of the buffalo coming from a photograph taken on of his safaris. Consignor purchased this rifle directly from Mr. Hodgdon just prior to his succumbing to cancer. CONDITION: Extremely fine. Appears to have been fired, but if so very little. Bbls retain about 98% of their orig factory blue, and the receiver all of its orig coin finish. Wood is sound with a minor handling & storage nick or two, and retains virtually all of its fine, hand rubbed oil finish. Mechanics are crisp. Brilliant shiny bores. Sling is fine. The workmanship of this rifle is of the very finest quality with near perfect wood to metal fit. 4-56772 JR227 (10,000-15,000) Auction: Firearms - Fall 2006 Please Note:* All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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