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Very nice, Rob. Excellent shape and quite good condtion for a 'hunting & target' rifle.

My bother has one quite similar, but in poorer condition needing restoration - sometime.

The filing at the muzzles - grooves deepened along with filing on the lands, introducing a sort of 'bell' at the muzzle to allow easier loading of the patched ball has always intrigued me. In the states, some ML makers do this as a normal 'finishing touch' sort of duplicating the rifling appearance but larger - a short, slight funnel. This is called a "Hiney or Heiny or Hiny" muzzle treatment in the States.

Most of us simply radius the muzzle for easier ball starting, but the appearance of the rifling disappears right at the surface - but only just at the top end of the muzzle.

Usually the German and Austrian Stutzen (short rifle?) collectively called Jaeger rifles here, were of decent size bore - forma bout .48 to .60 cal., but had rather quick rifling twists compared to ML barrels made today. This means low powder charges, low velocity and arched trajectories over unknown ranges. Of course, use and practice makes for more accurate shooting under those conditions.

This rifle appears to be also a 'match' or target rifle as seems to be sighted for such, along with hunting sights - chamois in the Alps, anyone?

Flip up sights are of course very common for hunting rifles in Europe. The tang mounted & quite elaborate Lolipop target sight would be very difficult for hunting use due to the trajectory of the ball over distance due to slow sight changes and reduced sight picture. It appears to fold out of the line of sight of the open, hunting sights or would be removed and stored safely at home or in the 'hunting' bag.

Beautiful rifle, nice shape & I concur, it needs to be cleaned up a bit, insides cleaned of rust &/or caked grease and properly lubed as well as checked for safe function.

The bore should be checked with a penlight or bore scoped cor condition and to see if it is

STILL LOADED! many were left in that 'condition'.

Use of a dowel to see if it is loaded is a necessary precaution. Shove the dowel down the bore until it stops - mark it and law if alongside the bore to see if it extends to almost inline with the nipple's base. I would use a 3/8" or even 1/4" dowel as this rifle appears to have a patent breech. Thus, the breech could have a smaller sized inner hole (than the bore) to connect the nipple's flash channel to the main bore. The smaller diameter rod is necessary to enter this channel to see the real depth of the barrel's interior.

If a larger 7/16" rod for instance was used and the breech does have a smaller sized inner hole, the larger rod will stop at the end of the patent breech, thus giving a false reading as to the depth of the bore - making one think the gun is loaded or plugged perhaps with wasp's nest or dirt or some other foreign object.

Then, a visual inspection is necessary.

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Daryl

"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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