Yeah, I have an 1896 I shoot pretty regularly. It's a lot of fun. The 30-40 cartridge isn't so high powered that the recoil is a problem and yet the cartridge gives good accuracy at longer distances. Real smooth bolt too!
As for as accuracy; I haven't printed it on paper in a long while but as I remember it gave about minute and a half at 100 yards with the standard sights.
I do know that one day at the range after the BPCR shooters finished their compition we sat down at a shooting bench and proceeded to bang the heck out of the 300yard pig swinger without any trouble at all. If I would work with the loads a little I think it could do much better ( as long as my eyes hold out).
As for getting one, well now that is another story. I see several on GunBroker.com and
http://www.auctionarms.com/. If you can get one with a good bore and stock that hasen't been drilled or tapped for special sights you can usualy get the rest of the parts from suppliers or auction sights like e-Bay. Anything in good condition for shooting and mostly original will cost you $500 to $700 or more. If I could only flash back to 1963! Sigh!
Good luck! It's a fun old rifle!
