It's probably a GEHA (there were other makers), which essentially was a WW1 surplus Gew.98 rifle action and stock altered to accept a shotgun barrel. I believe they were offered in 12, 16 and 20 gauges, almost certainly with 2 1/2" or 2 9/16" chambers. It was a two shot deal, the reconfigured magazine box holding one round, and the newly manufactured bolt face held in place by the extractor and cartridge retainer plate (screwed onto the left side of the receiver) - bolt faces were notorious for falling off. There's one in reasonably good condition listed on one of the C&R sites for $175.
Yes they will fire our commercially manufactured ammunition, but if you have one BEWARE .Like one of the previous posts said the bolt head will fall off and the gun will still fire, I've seen it happen.
I recall shooting one of these in 16ga as a kid at a friend's farm back east. The one I'd spotted on the C&R site seems to be a 12ga, and I've been giving some thought to buying it. Even if it's a 2 1/2" 0r 2 9/16" chamber there are short (don't recall the specs) rounds available in 12ga. Same is true of 16ga. The lockup on the 12ga GEHAs is actually Mauser's third safety lug as best I recall, the bolt's original lugs having been reduced considerably to accommodate the 12ga case rim. They've been labeled as unsafe over the decades, but that's probably because they're sort of "Rube Goldberg builds a bolt action shotgun" affairs. They've been around since the 1920s and seen a lot of shooting, and I've never heard of one letting go. The biggest glitch - more annoying than anything else - is the bolt face occasionally ejecting with the fired case. If you do acquire the GEHA, look into the modern short cased 12ga rounds.
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