I just purchased this rifle tonight and have not taken receipt of it yet.

I gather the 1905 is one of the less commonly encountered pre-war models and can be problematic to load for given substantial variation in bore diameters. I expect that the cartridge will also overlap significantly with the 9.5x56 M 1910 I recently acquired but this is one of those situations where the individual rifle and not the chambering sold me. Duplicitous or not, it hopefully will be great for medium-sized game...

I'm waiting on higher res pics to tide me over and will update this thread with those and some better shots once I receive the rifle. A huge bonus for me is the Lyman #36 it is fitted with--this sight has eluded me for years. I also appreciate the early rounded PG.

Overall condition appears fine, but not so great that I'll hesitate to use it.

Here's the seller's description followed by his photos:

"From my personal collection. This fine rifle was sold by Griffin & Howe Aug.16, 1909 to the famous at time Dr.R.V. Price, a prominent patent medicine quack. He became a wealthy man through his practice, patent medicine sales, hospitals, books and other lucrative questionable endeavors. The rifle comes with dies, a large number of bullets and formed brass so you can shoot it if you like. SN 2069. This rifle is as found in a wealthy Texas families estate. The original blue is 95% with some freckels, perfect mechanicals, the original wood & finish are 85% with dinks and show the heavy use in AFRICA! Apparently the good doctor took this rifle to Africa or India at some point as the buttstock is stamped with the customs inventory number "5763", as was the common practice at the time. The bore is mint. Fitted with a rare No.36 Lyman peep sight, three leaf Express sight and a gold bead peep. Nine pages of documentation come with this rifle including the stamped G&H sealed Griffin & Howe archival research letter."

The ad mentions a "three leaf Express sight and a gold bead peep." I can't make out enough detail in the pics to tell if the rifle has the standard one fixed/one folding leaf rear, or if this is a special treatment from VL&D for their retail. Ditto the front. In any case will be curious to see when it gets here.

I didn't come across too much on the 1905 in the archives, so would welcome any comments, reloading tips, etc..