Malco,

Thanks for your sympathies and kind words. Let me ease your conscience. I had spotted that rifle on the WLM website as soon as it was posted. In fact, I had talked to Dan Moore about it before you mentioned it in this thread. I was put off by the price and decided to pass.

I've done business with the Moores since 1996 and always find them to be top-notch. I recommend them to anybody.

As a matter of history, Moores had a dandy 1903 Carbine back in April 2008 listed for $2,300. It appeared little used but not quite as "cherry mint" as the current rifle. I came within a hair's breadth of buying it and regretted not doing so. I've been watching since that one passed.

Dan called me last week as a followup on the current rifle. I had made an offer on it during our initial conversation 7 weeks ago. He reported that the owner had decided to sell for what I had offered, and he wanted to know if my offer was still good. It was.

So don't feel you are a serpent. I'm a willful sinner without the encouragement. Nevertheless, it's nice to have lots of encouragement for this type of sinning. I'm probably still paying too much for the rifle!

Also, this isn't my first foray into the realm of Mannlicher Schoenauers. I have a cherry mint MCA Carbine in .358 Win topped with a Kahles 4x scope in claw mounts.

The rifle from Moores should be here any day. I'll give a report then. Thanks to everybody for the kind words and advice.

Curl