Antique Loewe rifle.  Mostly matching (cleaning rod has a different number entirely and the bolt cocking sleeve (think that's what it is called) has a 2-digit number that doesn't match everything else).  The bore was described as good, and after running 2 patches through it I'd day it looks really good.  Good bluing on the receiver and barrel with some speckling.  The buttplate has some pitting and there is scattered specklling on the parts that were left in the white.  









I am trading a local some WWII era .303 ball for some 30's 7mm ball on chargers.


Rob

Nice rifle! I picked up 2 over the years, one as a shooter, which is in good shape for 120+ years, and one that is immaculate (looks like it was made last year). The shooter is still nice, and shot well with some 7mm reloads I made up for it. I like them for the history and great craftsmanship. The actions are very smooth. I imagine all of these rifles are collectable and will appreciate in value over time, so its probably best not to clean the stock in any harsh way. The metal can be cleaned of years of dried grease and coated with a nice wax to keep it protected.

On my shooter, the rifle was actually in much better condition than advertised. The "rust" was dried up grease, which had protected the metal very well.

I picked up a no-gunsmith scout scope mount for mine, but have not fitted it yet. I like the look of the classic rifle, but the sights are tough to use for my eyes, so an optic helps a lot. I can still shoot it at 100 yards, but I just get much better groups with the optic.

A decade ago (time flies!) I was would get an antique Finn mosin from Pat Burns now and then when I saw a nice one under $200. They were awesome, I should have bought more!

Took the rifle to the range today.  My eyes are no longer compatible with iron sights at long range so I limited it to 25 and 50 yards.  

I fired 30 rounds of old K37 military ball with more modern spitzer bullets and 7 rounds of ancient REM/UMC with old style heavy round nose bullets.  I was hoping the REM/UMC would yeild usable brass, but several of them spit in the shoulder and pierced primers, so I discontinued shooting them and will salvage the bullets only for later use.

The old Kynoch ammo ran perfectly though!  No hang fires or other serious issues, though a few left the bolt needing a little extra effort to lift.  I have a total of 200 rounds of this stuff and I'm glad it shoots, but with it being corrosive, berdan and expensive, I'll probably just shoot Privi or S&B new ammo and handloads going forward.

The first group at 25 yards was 5 shots into about 1 1/4" in a horizontal string (actually 3 on top of each other, then one about 1/2" left and the last about 1/2 more left).  Very pleased for 80 year-old ammo out of a 120 year-old rifle!  If my eyes would allow me a sharper sight picture...

At 50 yards, the first three shots went into an equilateral triangle about 1.25" on each side.  The last two shots opened the group to about 2".  A second 5 shots were fired a little less carefully, but still all 10 rounds ended up within a 2.5" square.  Considering the 6" orange circle target used by my club is an indistinct fuzzy blob for me at 50 yards, I think this was a great result!

Got home and ran several very wet Ballistol patches through the bore.  Tomorrow I'll run hot water down the bore and clean and oil again to take care of the corrosive ammo residue.

All in all, a good range trip!

Rob