Roadrunner,
OK. I finally got a bit of time at 5:30 this morning to closely look at your rifle. It is quite nice looking that is for sure. It must be very enjoyable to hunt with.
It has a unique rear sight on the barrel which was made by the Marbles company. The little button shaped elevator was the tip off. There were different numbers on these sights because they are rifle and in some cases caliber specific. I do not have a reference handy for which is correct for your rifle but will assume that the one on it is correct. You may not realize that the elevator positions are graduated in 50 yard increments. The lowest being for 50 and then on up. That way in the field all you have to do is estimate the distance to the target, adjust the sight accordingly and hold dead on to your aim point. There is no need to hold high or low to compensate for bullet trajectory.
What doesn't look correct is the fact that the sight doesn't show anywhere near the wear that it should considering the balance of the gun. There is typical thinning of the bluing on the fore end cap, magazine retaining ring and near the end of the barrel. Also the upper tang and the bottom of the receiver near the serial number the bluing is gone. But, then there sits that dark blue sight with little or no thin areas on it. A tipoff that it is original to the gun.
The bluing on the balance of the rifle looks very even and to never have been messed with. Obviously, the rifle has been well cared for.
The wood has a slightly differnet story in it. In your photo 4724 and 4732 you can clearly see the missing wood at the ears of the stock on either side of the upper tang. This is the hallmark warning sign of sanding on a stock. The fact that the slot in the upper tang screw has been marred shows that the stock has been removed. In addition, the screw slot on the left fore end cap is marred. That all says the wood has been removed from the rifle.
It is typical when looking at these rifles that there is not ONE thing but rather a set of occurences that tells what has gone on in the rifle hundred year lifespan. Your rifle
is a very nice looking gun. From a collectors point of view though it gets hit pretty hard because it sure looks like the stock has been sanded at some time. Typically if it were in original condition the gun would be worth around $3000 or so. But I am afraid you would never get that from knowledgable collectors. And, "the guy down the street" probably won't pay anywhere near what a collector might for a nice gun.
I hope this helped.
Let me know your thoughts
2bit
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