I ambled thru a local pawn shop a few days before Christmas and spied this 1895 chambered in 30 US (30-40). I asked to look at it and the attendant opened the bolt and handed it to me. For a 100 plus year old rifle it's in pretty good shape, barrel retains some blue, action is tight, no splits/cracks in wood but it has several dings from use. From what I can see the bore looks to be in good shape, and no screws are buggered. The man behind the counter (owner of pawn shop) said he was asking 1200.00 for it but would let it go for 1000.00 because it was so close to Christmas. I thought about it but didn't have that much money in my pocket so I handed it back to him.
Well, day before yesterday I raided my "Mad money stash" and returned to the pawn shop and looked it over again. 950.00 later I walked out with it. Now the work (fun) begins. I need to get dies and more brass, and am looking for a Lyman 21 peep sight for it. I have some brass as I have butchered some 30-40 brass for use in 303 brit in the past. I've got some 30 cal. jacketed stuff, plus a couple of appropriate molds to try some cast. I hope to have this old rifle up and running by April/May time period when the North Idaho Dangerous Game emerge from their burrows.