doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Steyr Sporting Rifle

Ok, I don't own this or know the owner, I don't plan on bidding on it, but I am simply curious to know more about this rifle

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=162344741

It is an 1893 or 1895 Mannlicher turn bolt action. The actions or barreled actions were sold to custom gunmakers in both Europe and the UK (and presumably elsewhere) before the 1914-1918 war. I don't know if Steyr sold complete rifles, but they probably did so. The actions require a special clip if they are to be used as a magazine rifle. Without the clip, you have only a single shot. The actions are very smooth in operation, almost as smooth as an old Krag, but it cannot be operated quickly because of the design & placement of the bolt handle. The magazine is very easy to load if you have the proper clip. Looks to me as if there is room enough under the scope to use the clip. When the magazine was empty, the clip dropped out of a slot in the bottom of the magazine, near the trigger guard.

There were some very high-end sporters (Rigby, Gibbs, etc.) built on this action, but I don't think this is one.

I think the 1895s were largely replaced as a complete sporting rifle from Steyr after the introduction of the Mannlicher-Schoenauer in 1903. Ken Waters wrote an article about them in the March 1991 Handloader, reprinted in the fat "Pet Loads" book. This is probably a very light weight rifle intended for alpine hunting or some such use.

I suspect that there is an error in listing the caliber. Dixon's book lists 2 variations of 6.5 x 48R cartridges,but both were straight-tapered cases intended for single shots. The chamber cast, in the plastic bag hung from the trigger guard, looks much like a 6.5 x 53R (called the .256 Mannlicher in the UK). All of the few such rifles I have seen (and the one in my gun safe) have been chambered for the 6.5 x 53R cartridge.

The Austrian barrels of that time had very deep grooves, .266 to .268, and won't give much accuracy with our .263 or .264 bullets.

Thanks for the thoughtful answer, I learned alot.

6.x53R is a ballistic twin of the 6.5 Mannlicher Schoenauer, which means it will kill anything handily with a decent hit notwithstanding energy levels about the same as a 30-30.

I was curious about these rifles as well, the website below has some good information.

http://www.rathcoombe.net/sci-tech/ballistics/custom_rifles/classic_mannlicher.html

Zowie! Those are neat conversions of military 1895 Mannlicher turn bolt rifles. Makes me think pretty hard about getting one of those fancy gunstocks. Mine is one of those odd Dutch carbines, made at Hembrug in 1917 and now painted black with some goop that looks as if it was left over from patching the leaks in the roof of the house trailer. I already have the little Lyman peep sight, along with all the case making stuff and 10 of the funny little clips. I'll do a quick accuracy test before proceeding. My carbine has a barrel that is only a smidge over 17" long and a sight radius of about 14", so I don't expect it to be a tack driver. I tend to think those rifles look better than they shoot.

I was very interested in the stock on the rifle displayed on the zebra rug. I looked up "Great American Gunstock Company" on Google and discovered a lot of negative press. Does anyone market semi-finished stocks for these old rifles?

Great American Gunstocks has had both bad and good press, it's debatable as to which would be the larger amount, bad or good. I personally had never had any problems with them, but I have not used them since the largest volume of bad reports began to surface. If someone here has some truly recent purchase they could report on, I also would be interested.

Why not try Richards Microfit? In any case, the stocks at Great American required more fitting effort (unless you also pay them to fit the stock to your gun, which I never did) than do the stocks from Richards Microfit, at least in my opinion. I also have never had a bad purchase from Richards, and they do have a number of offerings that are VERY close to a drop-in fit, something that Great American does not offer.

There are a number of custom stock makers around, they can either begin from scratch or take a semi-finished stock from some mass producer and fit and finish it for you, but that's more $$, of course.

nice article on a sporter. They are slender little graceful guns, and pleasant to shoot.

The Steyr Mannlihcer carbine on Gunbroker appears to be a Model 1893 Roumanian, based on the markings and the distinctive horizontal reinforcing rib on the magazine box. The Dutch Model 1895 (both Steyr and Hembrug manufacture) have a slab-sided magazine box without this rib.

Both models were sold commercially through various British retailers including Gibbs, Rigby, Holland and Holland, Dickson, Army and Navy, and Alexander Martin to name a few. It is generally understood that they were sold by Steyr to the trade either as bare actions or barreled actions, and then stocked and finished in the U.K. They had a fairly short commercial heyday from 1895 through about 1905, by which time they had been largely supplanted by the improved Mannlicher Shoenauer Model 1900 (later known as the Model 1903) with the integral rotary magazine, and the familiar Mauser Model 1898.

The most common chambering was the original 6.5x53R service cartridge, also known as the .256 Mannlicher in English speaking countries. Next in popularity was the .303 British and .375 2.5" Flanged Nitro Express, in that order. Most were configured as open sighted hunting rifles, in a variety of grades, in typical British configuration for the period. They also enjoyed a run of popularity as target rifles fitted with 30" barrels in .256 Mannlicher, which was a revolutionary long range cartridge at the time. Gibbs (and too a lesser extent, Rigby) are responsible for most of the target versions I have seen, generally in a standard grade (plain) finish and often fitted with a rear mounted sight for the backwards prone position.

There are a few oddities about the carbine on Gunbroker that should be noted. First, the presence of double set triggers and absence of British proof marks indicates that this was not a British market rifle. Second, the barrel appears to have been shortened, based on the replacement front sight and the location of the front sling swivel relative to the muzzle. Third, the forend has almost certainly been modified, and has a very odd and unattractive profile. Fourth, the length of pull looks suspiciously short, and the squashed rubber recoil pad would not be original. And lastly, although the scope appears to be a period item (possibly a Voigtlander) and the mounts are also old, it would be very unusual to see split rings on a original pre-WW1 rifle, since they were almost always soldered onto the scope tube during that period.

Having said all that, I'm sure it would be a fun rifle to play with, and could be the basis for an interesting custom or "resto-replica".

Cheers,
Peconga in Boise, Idaho