At the request of some of the other posters in my thread on the drilling I recently acquired, I'm posting some pictures of the J.P. Sauer Tell V rifle I acquired in the same auction lot. I didn't know these rifles even existed before I saw the auction and, now that I've received it, I've fallen in love with this little thing. 5 lbs 2 oz and beautifully trim.





Due to the marking on the top of 360/57 and the 108,49 stamp on the side, I assumed that it was a 9.3x57R/360, even though it was advertised as an 8.15x46R.





But when I tried to insert pin gauges into the bore, a .302" gauge was the largest I could fit. Preliminary measurements with inside calipers today indicate a groove measurement of .313". And inserting a straightened paper clip from the breech to the neck of the chamber measured right at 46mm, which apparently means that this is chambered in 8.15x46mm after all. In fact, if you look at the muzzle:



And at the chamber:



You can see that it appears to have been relined at one point. It's not immediately noticeable to the naked eye, you really have to look closely to see it. And there is a fair amount of wear to the rifling, so it's obviously been shot a lot in the new chambering.

The only other markings apart from serial numbers are these on the underside of the barrel underneath the forearm.



The MM appears to possibly be stamped on top of another marking. Barrelmaker or insert maker? The crown N I'm assuming is the nitro proof, but for the original 9.3 or for the 8.15? The serial number is in the 73,000 range. I can't tell from the list in this document http://bryndumlund.dk/fileadmin/template/PDF/Sauer_artikel.pdf if that means production in 1898 or 1899. That obviously means a difference to me since 1898 production means I don't have to keep it on my bound book.

I figured some of you might enjoy these pictures, and any comments, suggestions, or speculation about its history are welcome. I'm looking forward to loading for this rifle, figure I'll probably try to pick up some RWS brass rather than reform from 30-30 or 32-40 and then figure out what loads and bullets to use.