I recently purchased a Mannlicher Schoenauer Model MC Rifle in .244 Remington. Rifle is proof dated 1959 and I was expecting it to have a 1-12 twist but checking with a tight patch on a rotating cleaning rod showed a 1-9 twist. Did Steyr change the twist in later .244s like Remington did or just allways use 1-9? I knew they were made in this caliber but had never seen one before, any idea how many or what percentage of production were .244?

Congratulations on your new Mannlicher. While I can't answer your question here are some links.

http://mannlicherschoenauer.com/mannlicherfacts.htm
http://www.eschoder.com/english/english-index.htm
http://www.steyrclub.com/
http://www.germanguns.com/
http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/biog/mannlicher.htm
http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/biog/werndl.htm
http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/biog/holub.htm

I can only guess, but my guess would be that Steyr always made them with a 1-in-9 twist.

First, SAAMI specs may not be the same as the European specs. Its almost sure they were made to the accepted European specs.

Second, I would guess they'd immediately look at the .244 as nothing more or less than a 6x57 Mauser (which it basically is) with which they had long been familiar. That familiarity being the case, they would have also have long known that a 1-in-12 twist was inadequate for the heavier hunting bullets that European purchasers liked for Mouflon, Chamois, Roe deer, etc.

So it would have made sense to manufacture the quicker twist for their "local" customers.

Of course, that may very well not be how it happened, but it does have a certain consistency to it.....

Congratulations!!!!! You have snagged about the rarest (per catalog) post war Mannlicher-Schoenauer made. The .244 was only catalogued in 1959 and 1960. I only know now of one other .244 in the USA, and I do not own it! As for barrel rate, I have an old Lyman reloading manual that sets the .244 barrel twist at 1 in 10. Considering the problems Remington had with the .244, a 1 in 9 or 1 in 10 bullets seems right for heavy bullets. I've never turned up an official Steyr barrel twist statement.
Can you post a photo??
LLS
Mannlicher Collector

Wow! That's great. I had a feeling it was scarce. Here are some pics I saved from the seller's site.

Nice looking rifle.

It is a shame that the B&L mount was not modernized and still avialable.

It is a very good idea, having all the adjustments in the mount, enabling you to use one scope for several different rifles.

With current prices of scopes it would be a good idea today.

quote:

Originally posted by dobk:
Wow! That's great. I had a feeling it was scarce. Here are some pics I saved from the seller's site.

OUTSTANDING rifle!!! KOOL!!!!
I had those same mounts on a 7mm Ackley Magnum with a B&L 2 1/2-8x scope. PO built the rifle for me in 1957.
My 244 shoots the Nosler 95 grain partitions very well.

Don

quote:

Originally posted by dobk:
I recently purchased a Mannlicher Schoenauer Model MC Rifle in .244 Remington. Rifle is proof dated 1959 and I was expecting it to have a 1-12 twist but checking with a tight patch on a rotating cleaning rod showed a 1-9 twist. Did Steyr change the twist in later .244s like Remington did or just allways use 1-9? I knew they were made in this caliber but had never seen one before, any idea how many or what percentage of production were .244?

I think Steyr always had their own ideas about what twist to use in various calibers. For example, I have owned two M/S's in .270 Win., a Model 1950 and an MCA. Both had 1/9" twists. You are lucky yours has a 1/9", as it will probably handle the lighter bullets well, and you can use as heavy a bullet as you want for bigger game as well!