J.G. Anschütz Dolla MKII (c.1929 to 1939)

This is the Dolla MKII manufactured by J.G. Anschütz between c.1929 and 1939 in Zella St Blasii-Mehlis, Thüringen, Germany – probably the gun capital of Germany at the time. Yes, that’s right, this pistol was made by the famous Anschütz family that are renowned throughout the world for their Olympic quality biathlon and target rifles.

Some say that Anschütz may have also made the earlier cast iron Dolla pistols amongst other German manufacturers. This may be why they called it the Dolla MKII. However, no known examples or records to support this have been found.

The pistol is a typical pop-out style design. However, instead of being made from cast iron, this one is machined from steel. Typically, the pistol is finished with nickel-plating although it was thought they were also available blued according to advertisements in catalogues.

Other variations of the pistol are known to have grip medallions embossed with “JGA” instead of “The Dolla MKII” as shown in this example. It is thought that such pistols were manufactured for the North American and German markets. Some U.S. imported pistols were also known as the “Keenfire” and were sometimes stamped accordingly on the grip.

Unless the rumours that Anschütz made the cast iron Dolla are corroborated, the Dolla MKII would be the first airgun that Anschütz manufactured. In fact, Anschütz only ever made two air pistols. The second was in the early 1950s when Anschütz rekindled their business.

Anschütz remains to this day to be a successful family-owned and run business. The story which spans two world wars is worthy of a full Jimmie Dee article that I will no doubt get round to writing at some time.