doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Mannlicher stock question

First of all, thank you for letting me join this forum.Hoping someone might be able to help. I have restocked about a dozen rifles in the past 20 years or so for myself and other family members. this is my first Mannlicher stock.
I do not want to put the traditional metal Schnabel piece on this�.instead I want to have a nice Ebony forend tip. Question is, I�m looking for some way of holding the stock to the barrel, and not be obvious about it��.I thought about soldering a nut to the bottom of the barrel and screwing the swivel into the nut, but I�m worried about barrel harmonics by doing this���.would any of you have any suggestions for this old man?...........very much so appreciate any help or suggestions on this.

I personally think a sling swivel at or near the end of the barrel/forearm would look strange? It certainly wouldn't be my choice of locations. I think you might consider taking a tip from thee old muzzleloader stock makers and use wedges to hold the forearm to the barrel. You don't need an attachment point at the very end, but you can add two points spaced back, with one about 4"-6" back from the end.
I have a Husqvarna type 33 sporting rifle that uses these little wedges, and they look great. My Husky has a cleaning rod under the barrel, but you could omit that. I think the little wedges and decorative plates look pretty classy.

Dickie,
Traditional Mannlicher front sling loops are screwed through a lug fastened to the barrel. Both the lug and screw have to be relieved in such a manner that they won't restrict barrel expansion as it heats up. This very often causes problems with acceptable shot groups, and has to be reworked. I suggest you use the two part forearm, where the joint is made on an angle, with the rear part supporting the front. The sling loop will provide some support( up and down)subject to the above. Finally, you would need a screw at the tip. This screw will be visible, but can be made barely so by backing it up with a washer in the countersink, rather than an escutcheon. Metal tips were traditional, but not always used. Some times other materials, such as antler bases were used; it's a matter of taste.
Mike

The Mauser commercial sporters, made until the end of World War II, simply used a barrel band sling swivel to secure the front of a Mannlicher stock, as illustrated by the Type S carbine.



The Type S had no metal tip on the fore end.

Vall..... the plan was to put the sling swivel in the traditional spot on the forend...not out near the end. The wedges are a good idea, but I'm trying to keep the forend ...clean (for a lack of better term). Another thought I had, was to inlet the sling swivel base, and use one of the 2 screw holes in the base to secure the stock to the barrel, and the other would be a matching wood screw. This would give me the swivel bases that I like to use, and would disguise the stock mounting screw.
Thoughts??? Thanks

Maybe a simple dovetail in the bottom of the barrel, and a single screw into a threaded base. Similar to the way a Marlin lever action has to retain the end of the mag tube?

Dickie,
What do you mean by "traditional spot on the forearm"? Do you mean traditional for a "Mannlicher" or traditional for an American bolt action? It's your rifle, just do whatever you want. We will try to help you with problems you have later.
Mike

Mike...Traditional for an American bolt gun. I am only "assuming" the forward swivel base would be the same on a full stock rifle that it is on standard stocks.....or is it mounted further foward?......sometimes I tend to think too much into simple things.

Traditional for American bolt guns is much farther back than what many full length stocked European guns were. And most standard American half stocks use a location near the end of the forearm. I think for balance with the extra forward weight, many full stock guns use a farther forward sling mount than a half stocked gun.

Dickie
What Vall said, plus front sling swivels on bolt guns were often in front of the forearm, mounted on the barrel. Slings were used for carrying and hardly ever for shooting.
Mike