Vetterli 1870/87

stencollector

stencollector

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shilo MB, the armpit of Canada
I found 4 of these yesterday hiding in some rafters in their grease and wrapped in plastic. I didn't know what they were; I thought Mosins, but now that I have looked at them, I was wrong. I see on the sides of the receivers are dates of 1889 on two, and 1870s on the other two, and one marked Torino. The owner wanted them gone, so I bought the 4 from him at a price that I thought was fair to both of us, however now I'm not so sure.

So two questions: First, I take it they are antiques?. And second, do they have any value? No slings or bayonets with them, but all have their cleaning rod. Stocks have the usual dings and dents, but you can make out some of the cartouches and various stamps on the wood. There does not appear to be any undue rust, and at this point, I have not dis-assembled them to clean the grease and check the bores.

I am fully expecting them to be in the neighborhood of $125-200 each, so I will not be too disappointed with their real value. I am thinking of just putting them on my table at the next gunshow at wallhanger prices...would this be correct?

I tried searching the EE for listings, but did not find any at present.

I know,I know, this thread is useless without pictures.....if they do have any collector value I can go take some.
 
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If they are repeating centerfire rifles, they would not have antique status regardless of when made.
I think they would command more than wallhanger prices.
 
One of the most important questions here is are the stocks cracked? When the Italians converted the 1870 long rifles to the 1870/87 style they had to carve out a significant portion of the stock to fit the “vitali” magazines and if they get dropped or hit with a significant impact they commonly split on either side of the magazine and often become relegated to wall hangers.
 
looks like the Italian vetterli's were centerfire from the start so wouldn't be antique unless single shot but I think most were converted to have a magazine looks like some were converted to 6.5x52 carcano later in life I don't know if id fire one in that caliber
 
These would be centerfire, and the conversion was in internal type magazine that would accept some kind of stripper clip, ejecting it once the last round is fired. I am really not up on the antique rules as they are out of my field of collecting. Thanks forthe clarification guys.

I guess I'll tear them down and clean the grease off them to have a better look at what I actually have. They are of little interest to me however, as they are outside of my collecting interests. The last thing I need is another obsession...already dealt with trying to feed the current OCD.
 
So of the 4, one has the cracks in the stock as Milspectacles mentioned. The other 3 are fine. I took apart the one with the cracked stock and cleaned it. Bore looks fine, but is obviously smaller than 10mm. My 7.62 or .303 cleaning rods would not go into it. A closer look on the net shows these to be a further conversion with a magazine similar to the Carcano, and converted to 6.5. One of them has a hinged plate at the bottom of the magazine, while the other three have fixed bottoms. That would make them Vetterli 1870/90/15.

I now know more about an Italian rifle type than I ever hoped or wanted to know. I guess I should take some photos tomorrow when I am out in the shop.
 
Those rifles were used by the Italians in WWI mainly in the rear lines to allow the supply of more modern rifles to be issued up to the front (though some did see combat). Value is roughly 200-500$, 350$ being around where a good condition one with no major obvious issues would roughly sit.
 
Thanks for the honest evaluation. I have sold the lot in one batch for a little less than that. This way I don't have to clean them, and can fit them all into one box and only have to ship once. I had to really hold myself back not to like these rifles....they just wouldn't fit in with my collection. Kind of like finding a batch of kittens out in the back yard...you have to tell yourself that you are not keeping them.
 
stencollector said:
Thanks for the honest evaluation. I have sold the lot in one batch for a little less than that. This way I don't have to clean them, and can fit them all into one box and only have to ship once. I had to really hold myself back not to like these rifles....they just wouldn't fit in with my collection. Kind of like finding a batch of kittens out in the back yard...you have to tell yourself that you are not keeping them.
Click to expand...

You may have dodged a bullet (quite literally) the /15 conversions have a very nasty reputation for kabooming when shot with published 6.5 Carcano data.
 
Factory ammo is a bad idea with these, but light loads and .264 projectiles with a rifle that headspaces properly and they’re a blast.
 
The receiver has soft metal so if the gun has had a lot of full power rounds down it chances are it’s not in spec. It doesn’t help that carcano headspace guages are hard to find and pricey when you do.
 
Original 1870s in 10.4 are still floating around.
0DE70E15-1B97-4DB1-8DEA-A9F1E07F0206_zpsncpeshid.jpeg
 
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