T S T V Mauser?

[Patrick Chadwick]

8.15x57???

I think you should check on that. I cannot find any trace of a cartridge 8.15x57. It is also vital to establish whether or not it is a rimmed cartridge. I found mention of an 8.2x57 rimless, without any information on where/why/when it was used. But there were several now-obsolete rimmed cartridges in the "approx. 8mm" family. Most desirable is the 8.15x46R cartridge - the German equivalent to the 32-40, which, in the imprecise manner of such designations, was also sometimes described as 8.2mm. It was also known as the "Frohnpatrone", from the designer, or "Schützenpatrone", as it was popular with target shooters.

As well as plenty of commercial hunting and target rifles, there was a service rifle known as the "Wehrmanngewehr" that was chambered for this cartridge. This was intended for ex-soldiers on the reserve list, to keep up their shooting skills without letting 98s out of military hands. It looks just like a Gewehr 98, but with a flat tangent sight instead of the high-curving "lange Visier". If you find one of those, I can assure you that they have considerably more collector value than a normal Gewehr 98. And reloading gear, cases and bullets are available.

But if it is in some other obsolete chambering, then the yardstick is "if it is not listed by CH tool and die, forget it".

You mentioned something about a presentation, and the chances are that the seller has made a mistake in the chambering. 8.15x46R would be a very likely chambering for a presentation rifle to a "schuetzen" or retired soldier. And after your experience with the percussion rifle DaveN, you are surely not put off by spots on the bluing, or even a duffle cut - Claven 2 will talk you through that one. TSTV is likely to be an abbreviation for TST (whoever that is) Verein i.e. society or club. Or (getting more speculative) the T... Sport- und Turn-Verein, i.e. the T... Sporting and Gymnastics Club.

Having said all that, if you live in a country without restrictions on the number of old service rifles you can buy, then my advice would be: if it is all there, and the bore is not hopeless, and it is going for a wall-hanger price - get it!

---------- Post added at 04:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:37 PM ----------

DaveN, if you get it, then please post GOOD pictures of the markings and the label, and I will try to decipher it.