Product Description
This Kropatschek rifle is in good condition with 85% original finish. 3/5 Bore. 2/5 Stock. Bolt matching serial number. There is light pitting found throughout the bore. Stock is well worn; it appears to have been refinished at one point, and that refinishing has worn off in areas that would be handled as a military rifle. There are also many dents found in the wood. Handguard is warped and bows upward. Left and right sides of the stock near the butt have a military acceptance stamp. No cracks in the wood were noted at the time of inspection. Receiver finish is dark. Integrated cleaning rod included.
This Kropatschek rifle is a Portuguese contract version of the Kropatschek Model 1886 and manufactued by Steyr (Österreichische Waffenfabriksgesellschaft). This particular rifle is also known as the M1886/89 Kropatschek "Colonial" Infantry Rifle. The only change from the original Portugese Kropatschek Infantry rifle is the addition of a wood handguard that is clipped over the barrel and sits forward of the rear sight. The handguard does not run the full length of the barrel. It has an internal, 8 round tubular magazine. A lever on the right side of the receiver, below and to the rear of the bolt, is a magazine cut-off lever; turning the lever down keeps the elevator in the raised position, preventing loading from the magazine and allows for single shot breech loading. The rear sight has three positions and can be flipped forward, backward, or straight up with an adjustable ladder for volley fire. The safety, found on the bolt, operates very similarly to the one developed for the Mauser 1871.
Please note, the "8x56mmR" ammo used is not the same as the Austrian (Steyr) 8x56mmR ammunition as the Kropatschek predates this ammunition by almost 40 years. The Kropatschek was originally chambered for 8x60mmR (Guedes), a black powder cartridge. With the advent of smokeless powder, it was discovered that the Kropatschek could operate with smokeless powder, thus the 8x56mmR (Kropatschek) smokeless cartridge was created and adopted. Both the original 8x60mmR and 8x56mmR cartridges were the same overall length
Antique; no import engraving.