Antique Firearms

just wondering if anyone here collects or uses antique firearms?? i've been doing alot of research into them and picked up two antique mauser bolt actions in 7 x57. these were famous for being used to put down elephants by walter bell in africa back in the early 1900's, more due to extremely accurate shot placement than straight power.

the rem700 (good sniping rifle) was designed based off of the mauser and the .30 06 was based off of the 7x57. but as far as i'm concerned one is honestly as good as the other. the ballistics on the 7x57 are supposed to be some of the best of any round, modern or antique. shoots acurately very far out, easy half mile if i remember right.

the best part... they don't need to be registered if made in 1899 or earlier. uk is 1898 or earlier.
this becomes interesting for preppers that are worried about being registered when they buy guns, or that are worried about government confiscation of guns during a crisis/martial law situation.

most antique guns are supposed to be blackpowder, not smokeless. but smokeless rounds were made around 1890 so there is a period of antique firarms using semi-modern smokeless powder. also to remember is ANTIQUE FIREARMS ARE NOT SAFE WITH ALL MODERN HIGH PRESSURE CARTRIGDGES.

from my research and experience
22lr's are a safe low pressure antique to buy.
european 7x57 mausers are still made to antique pressure rounds
modern shotguns and antique actually have very low psi, so i'm pretty sure this is safe, (its lower psi than a 22lr.)
to note though is that antique shotguns need to be modified to fit modern shot shells.

SO WE BASSICALLY HAVE A FEW ANTIQUE GUNS THAT WILL FIRE THESE MODERN LOADS, or you could reload yourself to be extra safe.

you also should test your weapon with a headspace gauge to see that the headspace is good.


i got my antique mausers off gunbroker for about 300 each, in near perfect condition. legally shipped straight to my door. better made and more accurate than many of my "modern" guns.

and please don't just say that antiques are invalid because we have modern rifles or else everyone will realize you didn't actually read the thread and you shouldn't be discussing, as we are talking about antiques not modern rifles. comparisions are legit of course

piratefashions.com... HA just saw your thread after ordering one of these i won a black powder revolver two months ago and been in love with it since and its surprisingly cheap to shoot and once u get your measurements right and feel a bit more comfortable its a lot less intimidating then it seems and as its been stated countless times on this site being able to make your own powder and find your own flints(flintlocks) or make your own "matches" means that those with the most primitive guns might be the last ones using them as opposed to cartridge firearms

in addition the slow moving round balls have an atvantage all their own in that where as a modern round will punch through and potentaly over penetrate or pass through a round ball will shatter bone and leave one hell of a wound (why you think they used to call doctors saw bones) once it gets delivered ill post pictures and a review of how well it works and if the axe is use full

www.dixiegunworks.com... another use full link for antique fire arms


www.classicfirearms.co... some cheap pistols it seems here as well and they are c and r


hunting.about.com... and the savage is rated for smokeless or black powder and while a modern inline it could be quite valuable due to variety of powders that can be used in it

I think you mean C&R or Curio & Relic firearms , AKA Crufflers. I wouldn't consider weapons made in the 1900's as antiques, I mean this 1911 on my hip is an old design, but works like a charm! I consider cartridgeless firearms to be antiques, but everyone has their own opinion and it's all relative.

I was driving my teen daughter and her friend to the movies last week and I put on pearl jams footsteps & yellow ledbedder and you would have thought I was playing leadbelly...lol I came to the realization that I'm a fossil in their eyes at the ripe old age of 31!

What is a Cruffler?

I have a .58 cal Hawkins black powder rifle with a old style brass scope.
www.thedolk.com...
www.dixiegunworks.com...

i know how to make black powder and have the 58 cal molds to cast the bullets.

And i can reach out and touch someone at 300 feet with it .
This rifle will take any game in north America. and i have a quart jar of caps for it so i have a very cheap to fire survival weapon when the ammo runs out.

those are good for when the ammo gets scarce, but right now i'm more interested in antiques that can fire smokeless rounds/modern rounds. either through being made for it or by taking the antique(unregistered) receiver and modifying it to fire modern rounds.

specificaly wondering if anyone does it with shotguns?

Interesting.Where do you live? I'm not familair with these registration laws. Here inCanada we just had our own long-gun resgistry abolished, so no advantge to buying antiques. Still, it is interesting. There would be some potentially cool guns you could buy, even Model 94 Winchesters, althoug hsuch early ones are probably really pricey. Remington rolling blocks, Martini-Henry's, old trapdoor Springfields, lots of cool stuff out there. Shotguns I'm not sure about, except that I've read some article on the various steels used in shotgun barrels over the years,and you might want to be careful of the ammo you use in it,as much of todays shot is steel and tus not suitable for old firearms.
Post up some pics of your Mausers,if you can, I'd love to see them!

reply to post by xxclaro


i live in hawaii, part of the United States of America.

Canada has similar laws, for you guys its made before 1898

you'd be suprised how accurate some of these antiques are. they made rifles back then better than my new ones. back then infantry rifles were made to shoot long distances. it was later during the 1900's that they figured most infantry battles take place at about 100-300yrds and started designing rifles for smaller calibers like 7.62x39, designed for these specific ranges.

heres a site with great pictures.. i don't know how to embed quite yet
www.gunauction.com...