Author Topic: What do I have? (Read 1216 times)

dakotashooter2 · « **on:** February 18, 2003, 08:03:06 AM »

Since I have little or no knowledge of older military firearms I thought Id ask here. I have come into the care of a bolt action rifle I know nothing about. It has "TORINO"in a small oval with "1877" stamped below on the left side of the barrel "AC 4057" is stamped on the right side.The barrel also has a small crest on the top near the chamber. A circle with "AV", followed with the letters AG stamped crossways, followed by another circle with "AM", on the receiver. The bore is over 40 caliber and the action and magazine are quite short. It appears to me the cartridge might be a 43 Spanish. Can anyone tell from the markings what this gun might be?

John Traveler · « **Reply #1 on:** February 18, 2003, 08:46:49 AM »

Given the few details that you provided, here is a GUESS:

The "Torino" may indicate Italian manufacture, as does the 1877 date and large caliber. An Italian Vetterli black powder cartridge design. The cartridge indeed resembles the .43 Spanish rifle cartridge, but on a smaller scale (shorter and smaller bullet).

Does it have a magazine box protruding from the bottom of the action?

Is it a tube magazine feed and does it have a Winchester 1873-type cartridge lifter?

Try doing a Web search for "Swiss Vetterli" and see what the antique gun dealers have. The Italian and Swiss Vetterlies date from the late 1860's to the late 1880's in various versions of the same basic design.

dakotashooter2 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 18, 2003, 01:58:46 PM »

Thanks John. It looks like you hit it right on the head. I did a search and found some information on these rifles. This one does have the box magazine and a rotating mechanism that appears to block the rear of the magazine and allow single shot loading. It sounds like this is a conversion but of which model I am still unsure. The rear sight is also considerably larger and longer than those shown on the pictures I looked at and it appears to be calibrated for (18) 1800 meters(?). Most of the pictures I looked at were (10) 1000?

John Traveler · « **Reply #3 on:** February 19, 2003, 10:11:33 AM »

Hey, Dakota Shooter!

I think I found your antique rifle on this site:

www.militaryrifles.com

It's an Italian Vetterli-Vecchi M1870. the sight you described is the Vecchi modification.

Lots of details and nice pictures! Check it out!

dakotashooter2 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 19, 2003, 02:31:41 PM »

Thanks again John. Right on the button. I cleaned the gun up last night, partially disassembling the bolt and polishing up the firing pin and other parts. The bore looked excellent with nice sharp rifling, making me wonder if it wasn't replaced as the rest of the parts showed some wear. The version in my care does not have the bayonet lug.