Also, this is not the cut down 1891 rife, nor the Engineers Conversion of the 1930's era. It's chambered in 7.65 X 53. Notice it was also built with only one sling loop on the rear. There are some references to it originally being equipped with a saddle ring, but I have yet to see one while cruising the net.
I needed to spend some time cleaning it up - Bluing is all but gone above the wood line, but fortunately there was no major rust, nor other damages besides moderate pitting. I got a pleasant surprise when I took the a damp rag to the crud on the stock. It's a tiger eye (and not a tiger!) - some angles it looks like straight wood, and other angles show the stripes.
Bore is nice, and I found a zip-lock bag in a C&R shop - full of old ammo for it. I'll need to pull the bullets, clean the corrosion and reload if I want to shoot it though. But at least I have the original brass.
Enjoy.
