Single Shot Mauser 88 Stalking Rifle

[sharps4590]

Hey David..

This might be sort of "out there" but it happened on a Peterlong Mauser I have. First off, the Peterlongo does not have a tang sight so that could have some bearing. Anyway, the rifle has a front sight and a way after market Lyman receiver sight. There's no way the rifle was ever used with the front sight/receiver sight combination. After I got the brass turned and formed it shot at least a foot high with the receiver as low as it would go. I digress...I could find no evidence of a rear barrel sight on the rifle or the forestock where a band may have been inletted into it, but it had to have had one originally. When I dismounted the barreled receiver from the stock I learned that originally the barrel had been octagon to round and that some dolt had milled off the exposed barrel flats to a round contour. My bet is that it also had a rib and that the rib also came off and that's where the rear sight had been mounted. Both common on pre-WWI Mauser sporters. Is that a possibility?

[JDZincavage]

I don't think it ever had a rib or another kind of rear sight. I do think it was rechambered. More photos later.

[JDZincavage]

Front sight was missing from dovetail when gun arrived, local FFL put in a pistol sight:

http://zincavage.org/FrontSight.JPG

Rear of receiver:

http://zincavage.org/ReceiverLeft.JPG

You can see that the rear of the barrel shows no sign of any sight ever having been installed. If you look on the fore-end, you can see how the barrel key and its escutcheon are missing and the hole filled in with solder. The gunsmith responsible also added a new attachment for a screw on the underside of the fore-end.

http://zincavage.org/BarrelRear.JPG

-------------------------

Please excuse bad cell phone photos.

[mike ford]

David,
I don't believe the front sight ramp is German, it has the look of a Pachmeyer(?). If you look directly above the lefthand escutcheon position, you will see a couple small "dings" and it looks like the polishing marks go around the barrel, rather than the length of it. To me these are signs that it has been polished and blued-maybe after removing a sight base. A typical sightbase would have been soldered on and excess solder would have been removed, starting with a small chisel. This often leaves small knicks at the joint, that are hard to see while the base is there.It is possible that the "dings" are left over from that.Of course, unless I had the rifle "in hand", I couldn't swear to it.
Mike

[JDZincavage]

I agree. I don't think it looks German either.

This rifle needs some skilled work, but it was fairly cheap, and if I get it fixed up, it will make a very light and handy single shot. (But first I have to get loading for the Neidner.)

[mike ford]

David,
Since it has been rechambered, and so many of the original features have been lost, it is doubtful if you can ever return it to it's original condition. You may be better off mounting a scope(using the already drilled and tapped holes), making or having made appropriate handloads, and hunting with it, as is . It would still give you a lot of fun, and you might take a nice buck.
Mike