An early Steyr Model 1886 Kropatschek bolt-action service rifle, serial 53, made around 1886 and chambered in 8x60R with a 26-inch round barrel. The bore is very good with strong rifling. The rifle shows honest service wear, with handling marks on the stock in keeping with a long military life, and the receiver markings are faint but still readable. This example never carried a handguard, which separates it from the later Portuguese-pattern rifles. The action is smooth and functions correctly, and the supplier calls the overall condition solid.

This is a collector's rifle first. Its value for a New Mexico buyer sits in the configuration: a two-digit serial number, the early no-handguard pattern, a stock with wear appropriate to its age and an action that still cycles as it should. Anyone who does take it out should remember that New Mexico's big-game rule requires a centerfire with expanding bullets, and that full metal jacket and tracer ammunition are not allowed.

Key features

• 8x60R bolt action, 26-inch round barrel
• Serial 53, made circa 1886
• No handguard, early pattern
• Bore very good with strong rifling
• Action smooth and functions correctly

The Kropatschek travels to a licensed New Mexico dealer of your choosing, who releases it after the NICS check and the seven-day state wait.