Sometimes it pays to do your reading :grin:

In this case the reading was Michael Petrov's excellent reference "Custom Gunmakers of the 20th Century," which, on page 74, reproduced a Sedgley advertisement that showed a Mannlicher stocked Springfield sporter. I found one of these, for a very inviting price, a few days ago.

I can only wonder what was going through the mind of this gun's owner. As can be seen the stock was originally cut for a receiver sight, but was then very cleanly repaired when the scope, a Zeiss Jena Zeilvier in a Redfield mount, was installed. Gone is the Sedgley buttplate, replaced with an Ithaca Gun Company recoil pad; and then, to cap it all off, a muzzle brake! But not just any muzzle brake; as can be seen in the pictures, this muzzle break can be deactivated by turning a set screw and then rotating a sleeve within the break using a spanner wrench. Not unlike the Savage on/off brake system.

Whoever owned this gun was not only cutting edge in terms of his choice in optics, but he must also have been terribly recoil averse to put both a pad and a brake on a 30-06. The scope, incidentally, features a cross hair with a second horizontal wire for use as a rangefinder. The scope remains remarkably clear and well defined, easily on par with Weaver K4 non-C scopes I have owned.

The gun is undoubtedly a Sedgley; it is so marked on the barrel (and also has the encircled "S" above the cal 30-06 marking ahead of the receiver ring on the barrel) and all the stock and barrel dimensions match those in the ad reproduced in Petrov's book, including the metal pistol grip and checkering pattern. The front sight, unfortunately missing its blade and the muzzle cap, matches the sight pictured in Petrov's book so I am comfortable in concluding that this gun was in fact a factory Sedgley mannlicher, later modified with the pad, brake and scope. Whether the modification was done by Sedgley I don't know, but it is unlikely as Petrov reports that Sedgley used Griffin and Howe side mounts for mounting scopes in his shop.

I can't find a Sedgley serial number on this gun, and the arsenal that produced it is obscured by the Redfield mount. The serial number is 13776xx, and my copy of Hatcher's Notebooks is buried somewhere in the house I just moved in to so for now I don't know how old the action is.

What I do know is that this action is glass smooth. Easily the equal to any of my pre-64 Winchester's and better than any pre-64 I own produced after 1947. The trigger has a serrated face and a very crisp single stage pull. I am not sure if this gun is equipped with Sedgley's speed-lock, but I doubt it as Petrov reports that the speed lock causes the cocking piece to protrude 1/4" when uncocked and this rifle's cocking piece protrudes the same amount as my military Springfields.

Well, enough talking. Pictures!

Interesting piece. Back in the day Sedgley was located in North Philadelphia. If you saw that section of the city now, you would be amazed that a gunsmith ever practiced his craft in that area. North Philadelphia now looks like some of the pictures one sees of Detroit. It's a drug dealers paradise.

A friend in my gun club has a sedgley gun much like yours but in mint condition. A very nice gun.

That serial is a Springfield from the 1920's or 1930's. Nice old gun!