October 22-23, 2019 Extraordinary, Sporting & Collector Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/22/2019
Original case color, No. 6 Schuetzen special lever, normally found on the Model 54, has nicely checkered wood inserts. The lever also has a wood addition, nicely checkered, for the thumb when shooting offhand. The action is fitted with double set triggers which work. Buttstock of fancy American walnut. On the left side, at the rear of the checkering pattern in the Fleur-de-Lis style, the wood is scalloped for your thumb to fit more comfortably on the stock, a feature that appears to be factory as the factory checkering goes over it, but has not been observed before. Obviously, this rifle was tailor made for an advanced shooter. Nickel plated No. 3 heavy Swiss buttplate, most unusual as a No. 4 Schuetzen buttplate would be standard on this model. Both buttstock and buttplate are numbered to the action. Full octagon barrel, No. 3 weight, and oddly unmarked except for the serial number matched to the action. Front sight is a Stevens wind gauge that has been gunsmith modified with the top of the sight cut away. Rear sight is a Ballard-Vernier mid-range style made by Ballard. Barrel has two holes several inches apart that are filled, probably originally for an old sight, now long gone. Forearm is checkered with one screw and numbered to rifle with a tip rest made out of a black material, checkered on the bottom, that may or may not be a later replacement for a cork tip rest. CONDITION: Quite a bit of case color remains. Buttstock has a significant grain separation which has been filled and the finish is thin but shows very little handling or abuse. Buttplate has majority of nickel present, except for where prongs would rest. Barrel blue shows very little wear except for high edges. Forearm shows very few handling marks and checkering appears to have been cleaned. Good action with excellent bore. A great old shooters gun, and we wish it could tell us of its previous history. TR
Model
Single Shot Model 51 44-1/2 Falling Block