Unknown rifle

[matty60618]

I see. Thanks for the info. I would like to fire it but it looks as if a box of ammo would cost close to what the gun is worth.

[lithgow]

I had a look back at a thread here from a couple of years ago-the bloke picked up one of these at a US garage sale for $20-needed some work but still a steal at that price.

[USNV5]

There is no "Russian influence" nor is it Egyptian. As stated above, it is a sporterized Dutch Beaumont. The link posted above to Keith Doyon's excellent "MILITARY RIFLES IN THE AGE OF TRANSITION, (Non-U.S.) Black Powder, Metallic Cartridge, Military Rifles from about 1865 to about 1888" is excellent and tells you almost all of the information you could want to know about your late 19th Century Dutch military rifle. Mr. Doyon also has a link to the Dutch site on the Beaumont that adds more:

Beaumont rifle

There never what "moderns" understand as a bayonet lug, the Beaumont used an old fashioned spike bayonet using the front sight as a "lug" so as long as your original front sight is still there, you are good to go. To restore it to original condition you will need the front band and a piece of stock. The stock will have to be hand made - simple enough - but the front band will be very hard to find. The cleaning rods are impossible to find, very few rifles, even when complete, have them.

[emileverbunt]

The only Egyptian is the ammo. As far as I know Cal .43 Egyptian fits very well. This rifle is an Original Dutch design by a Eduard Beaumont of Maastricht , The Netherlands. The unique feature is the leaf spring in the bolt handle. This was considered more durable in those days. On the cartouche in the stock you should see a large W (for king William III), a year of production, i.e. 1879 and the name of the city where it was produced: Maastricht. On the bolt housing(?) you can see the producer. Might be STEVENS, MAASTRICHT.

The Beaumont was originally a single shot rifle (adopted 1871). It has been modified with an Italian designed four round magazine by a mr Vitali, as of 1888 and was relegated to militia service when the Mannlicher 6.5mm R (M95) was adopted in 1895.

The Beaumont single shot played a role in the Pacific war (around 1875?) in the hands of the Chilean Army. I know few details.

A non modified Beaumont-Vitali would fetch around Euro 900,- in The Netherlands.

Before WW1 many Beaumonts were sportized by private companies in Belgium and The Netherlands.

Nice rifle.

Cheers,
Emile

[matty60618]

Thank you!

[lithgow]

The 'Egyptian' part of your rifle's story as emileverbunt refers to is that the US made Remington Rolling Block M1870 in 11.43 mm x 51R made for Egypt in the 19th century uses a round near enough in size to fit the Beaumont rifle-this would explain why your grandfather thought it to be Egyptian as the Remington round would have been far more available in the US-the Remington ammo would still be fairly hard & expensive to find.