What was the original reason to use a Mannlicher style full length stock on a rifle? Was it for function, looks, or military spec?

Thanks for your comments.

This full length feature goes back a long ways.....flintlock muzzleloaders were commonly this way.

I believe it's just the method used to protect the barrel from brush etc.....it carried on to the Mannlichers.

Originally designed to protect the barrel, which was more difficult to replace than the stock. The stocks were cut back a bit as barrel steel became stronger, and to allow for mounting detachable blade bayonets.

The style as we know it today originated with the Austrian cavalry in the late 1800's with their "stutzen" carbines. They had no need for a bayonet, and preferred the stock protect the barrel when being knocked around on horseback.

When the Mannlicher-Schoenauer carbines were introduced around 1900, they incorporated the design to protect the barrel during alpine hunting.