Following the battle of Plevna in 1877 in which the Turkish Army used Model 1866 Winchester Repeating muskets to mount an unprecedented number of casualties against a much larger Russian foe, Europe began scrambling to design weapons with magazines.  Many of these early 1880's designs were bolt action rifles which incorporated tubular magazines just like the Winchester.  Taking note of the lessons the Russians learned at Plevna, the Austrian firm Steyr developed the Model 1886 Kropatschek Rifle with a tubular magazine and cut-off so the rifle could be fired in single-shot mode holding the ammunition stored in the tube in reserve.  This rifle is quite similar to the Mauser Model 71/84 which incorporates a similar design...in fact, the bolts looks almost identical on these two models.

This Model 1886 is in Caliber 8mmx60R.  Its all original and complete with cleaning rod and original leather sling.  All matching numbers except for the bolt which is typical of most military bolt action rifles made with interchangeable parts.  The metal is mostly a smooth light grey patina with faded original blued finish in the protected areas.  No pitting, excellent markings and sharp edges.  The wood is in good+ condition with typical military handling marks but solid with no chips or cracks.  Wood has never been sanded and has two nice cartouches on each side of the stock near the buttplate.  The left side of the frame is marked "E.W.F.G. STEYR 1886".  There is also a crown over the letters "L.I." and "M.1886".  The barrel is secured by 3 barrel bands with the front having a lug for attaching and bayonet.  The cleaning rod is stored in a cut-out along the left side of the stock.  Rear ladder sight is mounted backwards with yardage marked on the bottom of the ladder so its visible when the sight is flipped open.  The rear sight slide is interesting in that its fashioned to the size of the rear ladder with the entire piece sliding upwards.  The right side of the receiver has a lever about 5/8" that can be switched to disconnect the carrier for the tubular magazine.  Nice mechanics and a very good bore with strong rifling.  A nice example of an early bolt action repeating rifle.

Item# 0458

SOLD