One thing I'm convinced of: it's not as advertised, a sporterized Carcano. My guess is that it is a Mannlicher, and it started life as a Rumanian Model 93 or a Dutch Model 95, but I'm open to being educated by those in the know.
Whatever it is, it now belongs to me.

I'd say Dutch. I remember reading on AR that an 1895 mauser TG mates up. Mount is probably worth more than the rifle.

http://www.rathcoombe.net/sci-...ssic_mannlicher.html

True. Those older mounts bring big bucks.

Romanian I believe,,no guide rib in the bolt body and the magazine body has the reinforcement rib along the bottom edge on the sides.
No knurling around the edge of the cocking piece.

The Dutch Model 1895 has the guide rib on the bolt ans smooth sided magazine box.
The orig Dutch M95 flag safety will be marked 'RUST' in the SAFE position.
The part will interchange betw the 95 and the 93.
A sporter may just be scrubbed of any Military marking of course.

Might also be the Portuguese M1896. Same Steyr actioned rifle & carbine as the Romanian, just a different and much smaller contract.

Caliber??

A long shot, but is the top of the front ring notched for easier loading of a longer round. Looks like it.

There was a fairly rare contract for Germany in 8x57J cal
Called the Mannlicher/Steyr Export Contract-1904 (thru 1914) to Germany.
Built on Romanian parts and actions.
I believe these had the notched front ring, but most any sporter could have that feature added of course.

Some of these 8mm rifles with slightly differnt bottom metal (GEW Model 1888) later went N. Ireland. 1912/13.

W/A top mounted scope, the scope will have to be Q/detached each time you load w/a 5rd 'packet' clip.
Assuming the action still carries the orig magazine feed system.

It's not unkn to convert these to a single stack 'no en-bloc clip needed' system too.

Even if the former, it's not a big deal on a hunting rifle and the Q/D mounts(windage adj too!).

Nice rifle for sure!

I’ll bet Tom can tell you what it is.

Rumanian; 2152 explained the details of them vs other Mannlicher types.

I'm wondering if I rotated the scope 90 degrees, if there would be enough clearance to allow clip loading. I would be willing to bet that the mount was originally used with a scope with no internal windage adjustment, as were a lot of pre-War scopes.

The 5 round 'en-bloc' Mannlicher clip loads directly from the top.
The clip with it's 5 rounds is inserted as one unit. Any scope directly over the bore/action will be in the way. But the QDfactor quickly takes care of that for a hunter. It's not a blaster/plinker gun after all.

The Dutch, Romanian & Portugese use the same 'clip'.
The CArcano uses is own.
The German GEW88 uses it's own clip.

Some sporters were built with a hinged door on the bottom of the magazine to capture the spent clip. Easy reclamation by the hunter for reuse.They last near indefinetly if you are careful with them.
Otherwise the clip just drops free and out the bottom of the mag box thru an opening after the last round is chanbered.
No need to save in a Military situation. Rounds issued on the 5rdclips
Think M1 Garand rounds on issued on clips instead of loose rounds.

When the GEW88 Commision rifles were a popular sell the first time around, a cheap stamped spring steel clip was available to snap over the heavy edges of the bottom of the mag box to catch and save the shooters enbloc clip.
I think I still have one or two around.

Last year I built a Steyr 95 straight pull, in 444 Marlin.
Low mount scope. Weaver swing over mounts so it can be loaded with the clip.

Whatever it is, xausa, I like it!

Have you looked under the barrel for proof marks? It would be a hoot if you found it had been converted by one of the great names.

I take it there is no way to fill the magazine but with the clip. Could it be made to work with a special, shorter clip, perhaps if a scope without windage on the right were used?

I have several Nickel scopes with the windage on the left and have heard this had something to do with Mannlichers, not just keeping the loading port clear.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
Whatever it is, xausa, I like it!

Have you looked under the barrel for proof marks? It would be a hoot if you found it had been converted by one of the great names.

I take it there is no way to fill the magazine but with the clip. Could it be made to work with a special, shorter clip, perhaps if a scope without windage on the right were used?

I have several Nickel scopes with the windage on the left and have heard this had something to do with Mannlichers, not just keeping the loading port clear.

There's an interesting thread over on nitroexpress of a fellow who's building a rifle out of a $40 Carcano action and a recycled MG barrel in 7.62X39 (he has a plausible explanation.) It uses offset claw mounts as well. He's converted his to use a CZ removable box magazine. A work in progress, but it's quite ingenious thus far.

xausa

What caliber/cartridge?

I still don't have it in my hands, but my guess is that it remains a 6.5X53R. That would be easiest for me to deal with in any case.

FWIW, the sling on the rifle looks like the issue sling from a Dutch Model 1985 rifle,,,or perhaps one from the Romanian Model 93.
(outside chance it's from the Portuguese M1896 as those were made up from Romanian actions and parts)

Which ever it is, it's a rare piece of leather and a Military rifle collector would pay a pretty good price for one in nice shape. (Not cracked, altered, extra holes, ect.)


Folks over on GunBoards in the Mannlicher/Steyr section can ID it better when you have it in hand and would be a good place to sell if you had a thought of doing that.

That it's on the rifle backwards will probably be their first comment, but that's just the collector in them!

It looks quite like the sling that came off my '95 Dutch.

quote:

Originally posted by cdsx:

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
Whatever it is, xausa, I like it!

Have you looked under the barrel for proof marks? It would be a hoot if you found it had been converted by one of the great names.

I take it there is no way to fill the magazine but with the clip. Could it be made to work with a special, shorter clip, perhaps if a scope without windage on the right were used?

I have several Nickel scopes with the windage on the left and have heard this had something to do with Mannlichers, not just keeping the loading port clear.

There's an interesting thread over on nitroexpress of a fellow who's building a rifle out of a $40 Carcano action and a recycled MG barrel in 7.62X39 (he has a plausible explanation.) It uses offset claw mounts as well. He's converted his to use a CZ removable box magazine. A work in progress, but it's quite ingenious thus far.

Thanks cdsx, sorry about the time delay, I often forget to look in on this forum.

No worries, Sambarman. I don't know if you're on nitroexpress at all, but if you are, check out Lancaster. He's got some great rifles, and his ingenuity on some of the pieces he's made is amazing. The box-mag Carcano is just one of his toys, and it actually inspired me to change my approach on one of my own projects.

Thanks cdsx, I used to look at NE all the time but haven't been there for years now - generally, I find AR more gentlemanly.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
Thanks cdsx, I used to look at NE all the time but haven't been there for years now - generally, I find AR more gentlemanly.

No problem. Everyone has their own tastes.