5/25/2021 – Arms and Armor

.40 caliber. 31″ barrel length. SN: NSN. Single-shot percussion rifle with target sights, double set triggers, and a heavy octagon barrel with rounded muzzle. Blued metal finish to barrel, with a checkered perch-belly monte carlo-style stock and plain forearm. Features silver plated Swiss-style buttplate, serpentine trigger guard, forend cap, and accoutrements. There is an aperture rear sight, hooded front sight, and fixed iron mid-barrel sight. Top of barrel is marked “R. Grimm Chicago”. Schuetzen rifles are single-shot competition guns that were popular in Europe from about 1875-1945. Most are custom made by independent gunmakers of the period. This particular schuetzen rifle is attributed to gunsmith Rudolph Grimm of Chicago. Appearing in Chicago sometime around 1872 with William Starke, the two were partners until about 1875. Grimm then worked alone as a gunsmith from 1875 until around 1903; this gun is most likely from that time period. This rifle is pictured in Hamilton and Rowe, The American Percussion Schuetzen Rifle, pg. 224-225.