Hi,

I've been looking at Gun Broker etc. for listings of 1896 rifles and don't see many. Any ideas why? I see a lot of 1898's.

I have an 1896 rifle. When I bought it years ago, the rear sight was broken - I bought it anyway. That's when I learned that the sights and hand guard were changed (I bought an original sight for too much money). I bought it from a very old gentleman at a Forks of the Delaware show in Allentown, years ago. He told me that he worked at a Phila. gunsmith shop long ago and they changed bbl's on them and made "carbines". He told me not to shoot the '96. Said that they would drop them from a 2nd floor railing and only use the ones that didn't break.

Dave