58 - Percussion target rifle, octagonal barrel, set trigger, cheekpiece stock, leather sling, circa 1875

Percussion target rifle, octagonal barrel, set trigger, cheekpiece stock, leather sling, circa 1875 Iron, wood and leather, target rifle with percussion lock, muzzleloader, circa 1875. Octagonal barrel with straight rifling, half stock, chequered wrist, ramrod with round wooden head below the barrel, oval metal plates on the fore-end, on the breech tang the angular mount for the diopter sight, the diopter sight missing. Percussion lock with scroll engraving on lock plate and hammer, nipple, set trigger with two triggers, trigger guard with volute-shaped finger rest, on the opposite side a shaped side plate in rocaille form, cheekpiece stock with iron butt plate with ball knob, riveted leather sling on the butt. Age-appropriate condition, mechanism functional, barrel pitted with rust. L. 121 cm Target rifles are sporting arms for precision shooting at targets and in the 19th century were the principal weapon of shooting festivals and of competitions in guilds and clubs. Characteristic features are the diopter as sight, the set trigger for a light trigger pull and the stock with cheekpiece, which gives support when aiming. The heavy octagonal barrel and the butt plate with ball knob belong to the equipment of percussion target rifles around the mid-19th century. The tradition of target shooting with such rifles had its centres in Austria, Germany and northern Italy.