Well, after two months of looking at it, I couldn't stay away and bought it. What they were asking at $850 scared me away, but when it got to $500 OTD,I couldn't leave it. The rifle, outside of the barrel and missing dust cover, is really not in bad shape. No blue to speak of but little pitting. the stock is really pretty good and as stated has some history carved in it! There was a story that explained the dates but that stuff is not worth much. The downside is, of course, the barrel which has a poor bore, is missing it's sights, ramp, and may have been shortened. The numbers under the wood match, so it must at least be the original. At this time my idea is to get the barrel rebored and some proper sights installed. At that point it will useful again. I can try to post pictures if anyone is interested. 3AXBAT's description was spot on!