Medals & Coins, Arms & Armour - 28th November 2024
Lot 410
Œ.W.F.G.: a rare 8x60mmR Portuguese Castro Guedes Model 1885 falling block service rifle with South
Estimate £700 - £1,000 | Hammer £1260
Inc. Buyers Premium
Description
Œ.W.F.G.: a rare 8x60mmR Portuguese Castro Guedes Model 1885 falling block service rifle with South African issue marks, serial number 2918, barrel 32.25 in. with hexagonal Nock's form, action with manufacturer's roundel dated 1886 to the left and the crowned monogram of King Luís I to the right, stamped 'Z.A.R.' to the action top, full stock with steel furniture, bayonet bar to the upper barrel band, butt with 'J H BREY TEN BACH' impressed to the side in serif capitals. Section 58(2) - no licence required if possessed as a curiosity or ornament.
(122cm OAL)
The George Geear Collection
Designed by Portuguese Army Officer Castro Guedes and manufactured to a high standard by Œsterreichische Waffenfabriks Gesellschaft in Steyr, this late example of a single loading military rifle was so rapidly superseded by repeating rifles that only a comparatively small number were ever made. The Portuguese, equipped with their Kropatschek magazine fed arm, sold most of their stock of Castro Guedes to the South African Republics for use in the impending 2nd Anglo-Boer war.