Portuguese Kropatschek Rifle

Picked this up at a nearby gun show on Saturday. Pretty decent condition but missing it's hand guard. It may have been removed in service because they only used them in the tropics but I'd like to find a replacement for it. As sold, the lifter did not work and it was a single shot. Quick fix, took the tube out which I suspected was holding the lifter. It was not. I turned the rifle upside down to look and an 8mm Mauser cartridge fell out. Lifter now works. Someone probably heard they took an 8mm cartridge and stuck it in the magazine somehow, not sure how it stayed in long enough to get under the lifter though. The bayonet I already had for once.

It has stock cartouches but they are very faint. Not anything recognizable other than the circles. Bore in very good condition, firing pin and extractor present and not broken.

Any ideas on what type of sling to put on it?

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Nice rifle, these have always interested me though I have never gotten around to getting one. Maybe one day.

This is the first one I've ever seen. Of course five or ten years ago I never even would have noticed it so who knows how many I walked past.

I managed to get 40 rounds of ammo today. 10 surplus, 10 reloaded surplus, 20 reloaded converted brass. I identified it at my local gun shop quite a few years ago and they still had it.

Definitely looking forward to a range report. The guy who has the world record for iron sight shooting (he shot the record with a K31), was using one of these for regular shooting at distance. He was definitely getting some good results.

Who knows when I'll get it to the range. The surplus stuff looks great but I'll probably just hang on to that. Made in 1928. The reloaded stuff has short bullets that go all the way into the barrel to the case head. So, not thinking that will be especially accurate. The reloaded surplus has really small bullets. Could just be specialty rounds I guess but I bought them for the brass more than anything

Are you sure yours ever had a top hand guard? From what I have read over the years, Most were made without hand guards. Very few come up for sale with them. Mine doesn't look like it ever had one.
I've fired a few original rounds and bought a case of blanks to try reloading but never gotten around to it. I've had mine since I was a teen, (mid '70s).
john

I can say with 98% certainty that mine did indeed have a hand guard at one point. It has the cutouts for one in the stock which are not on rifles without hand guards in all the photos I've seen and it also has faint wear marks in the metal in all four locations where the clip would slide down over the barrel.

Any idea when it was made, mine is from 1889. The cartouche on the butt has the date on it which is hard to read except in perfect lighting. I have the short rifle which is sized in between the rifle and carbine and is somewhat rarer than most. I fired mine back in the early 80's with surplus ammo made in Chile between 1915 & 1924. The ammo worked back then, not so sure about now. It shot ok but was never going to win any matches so I cleaned it and retired it to the collection. What amazed me is the loading gate spring is made out of aluminum which I didn't expect in a firearm this old. Could this be the very first use of aluminum in a firearm, very possibly. The Steyr firm were truly cutting edge pioneers. They are beautifully made firearms. The wood to metal fit is exceptional and although most of the outer bluing on mine is worn off what's left under the wood is amazing in it's depth. These rifles must have been something to see when they were new. - Bill

Not knowing how they date them with certainty, I believe it is 1886, first year of production. It has M1886 which I assume is the model and then under the Steyr manufacturer it has 1886. Can't imagine a reason to put that on twice unless that is the date. The cartouche on mine is too fine to see.

This is the cartouche on the butt. It's very hard to see. I had to lite it up with a 2,000,000 candle power spotlite. I added the other picture of the butt to show where it is. I just noticed it has 2 years in there 1888 and 1889. I've never seen it magnified before. It looks like it says Model 1888 on top which could have been some kind of update? I assume the newer date below is when it was made. However mine also says 1886 on the action but I believe that is the original model number. - Bill

I've read a couple times that the rear sights were changed for smokeless powders. Anyone else read that and if so, know what the difference is? Maybe the reason for a latter dated cartouche.

I can't answer about the rear sights but I can say they are the highest sights I've ever seen on a rifle. Must extend almost 4-5 inches.