It seems as if Erich Schoeder, the last apprentice who originally built these rifles, has started up an limited production. See this website for further information:

http://www.eschoder.com/

I have got one of those Mannlichers, a 1950 in 8x60S Magnum. IMHO it�s a rather over-estimated gun. Every piece of it is as well crafted and finished as you�ve said, but it�s heavy to left the bolt after the shot and the magasine has an inclination to jam. Simpleness is a good rule for guns, but this one is rather over-engineerd with to many cunning solutions. The Mauser M98 is evidently superior i practic use.

Fritz

God I love it so!

More Photos here........... MS Photo Album Link

the closest you could come with minimal expense would be a portugese mauser. it uses a standard, mauser box-type magazine but has a split bridge and forward-mounted bolt handle like the MS, is very finely finished.

Golly, is it allready the 21st century, and the internet has redesigned hunting and shooting with its ability to spu half truths and individual ideas gleened from magazines and tech buffs...

But in the hunting fields its a different story...I have been killing stuff with my one inch of trigger travel in my Brnos, mausers and MS rifles that I have owned off and on for several decades and never noticed they were unfit for human use...

I think a lot of you guys are swallowed up in therory and balistic ca ca....

rest assured they kill game with abandon in this the 21st century just like they did some 100 years ago...just like the 30-30 they still work...

I couldn't agree more; have you ever noticed how few people ever sell a nice Brno or M-S once they get one? Yet, these supposedly superior ultra-modern tech toys fill up the pages of the "Gun List" and so forth.

I might add that every one of the five older Brnos in my collection shot well under M.O.A. with the first loads I tried and my M-S carbine in '06 shoots .625" with 180 Partitions consistently and gives 2725fps at the muzzle.

I will buy every decent M-S, commercial Mauser and old Brno I can find simply because they are so well made and function so well. I have yet to have one change zero, either, and B.C. is a very wet place. I wish that they were still available, especially in 9.3x62, in the average gunshop.

Here is a picture of mine (if I do this right). If not, just copy the URL and it will take you there.

<img src="http://www.gunpix.com/gallery/Rifles/Bolt_Action_Rifles/MVC-001S.JPG">

It is in 9.5x57 MS caliber. 270gr bullet at 2,160fps from a 19.7" barrel. It is the takedown model and has the single trigger. Very light at 6-1/2 pounds. Quite a handful on both ends of the gun. It is what I would consider the perfect gun for dangerous game (if I ever hunted anything dangerous). It comes up instantly and the sights align like a shotgun. No aiming necessary at close range.

The trigger is two-stage and the firing pin IS very heavy, but I don't think that was an accident or bad design. I think that it was deliberately made that way so you are not likely to accidently squeeze it enough to fire it prematurely by accident as dangerous game bears down on you. I don't think much of double set triggers for hunting guns.

I agree with what everyone has said around here about it being too expensive to build nowadays. However, I believe that the .376 Styer "Scout rifle' was an attempt to make an updated one. Even it ran about $2,500 when new. It did not last long. There are not enough people to buy $2,500 rifles to go into mass production with them. That is the range of custom guns. I intend to keep mine.

The M-S that you are talking about is not a very good design. The bolt handle is too far forward, the pistol grip is too far back and they require a side mount for a scope.

On top of that they are very expensive. Of course many like the complicated machinery that they are and for that I do too.

I had a carbine in 6.5-54 and it shot rather well from a rest. However the rifle had excessive headspace and was difficult to load for. As mentioned above the lock time is so slow as to be disturbing.

So I sold it. Thinking it over again it might be nice to have it back but it's an oddball head size as well.

I always remember the book "The Wilderness of Denali" by Charles Sheldon. He carried an early version of the rifle that I had. Bell of Africa may have as well.

A historic rifle. I kind of wish I had one to handle right now.

Mannlichermannen,

Thanks for the news about the eschoder site. Despite my very limited knowledge about guns, I find it heartwarming that this great design has been resurrected. May they go from strength to strength!

Thanks and good hunting!

Roy,
Wonderful rifle. Thanks for sharing the album.

Harry's Mannlicher

Savage99: What you say is true, but.....

The original gun was never intended for a scope. I first saw an MS (which was also in 9.5x57MS caliber) in a museum surrounded with 30 or so stuffed African game heads that had been collected with it before WW1. It had no scope. It was made for quick, close range shooting at dangerous game (two of them were lions, BTW) It is still perfect for that. It is not good for 500 yard shooting from mountain-top to mountain-top. It never was and never will be. Whether or not it fits you depends on what kind of hunting you do.

The bolt and firing pin are made for ammunition that was much less reliable than what is available today. Not only is the fall heavy (which automatically makes it slow), but it is made so that you can grab the back of the bolt to recock it without working the bolt (like the Krag and Springfield). You don't see that on guns today because it is not needed.

As far as the location of the bolt and the grip; to each his own. They fit me. I think that the location of the bolt would be more of a problem with a scope, but mine does not have that. I have a replica Lyman peepsight for it. With the peep removed, the outer housing acts like a "ghost ring" that is being popularized as something new right now. When shooting for accuracy, it is easy to screw the peep back in for better accuracy.

Really, it is not a fair comparison when your only experience is with a damaged rifle (excess headspace). In addition, it sounds like you don't reload. I make the cases and reload for mine. No problems with it. It was made for a different place and a different time. I have no doubt that it would be made differently if it were made today. However, if it were done today, I know that it would be exquisite and expensive.

HarryO,

I recall expanding the necks of the Norma 6.5-54 all the way up to .358 with the button for my .358 Win.

That made a false shoulder of course. Even if that Norma brass was soft, and they had a lot of soft brass back then, it still should have worked. That's a mystery to me why that rifle had such a bad chamber.

But I got it used. It looked orginal and shot rather well. Mine was the 1955 or whatever they called that model with the white line spacers and higher cheek piece.

Someone said thier greatest value is looking at one while you sit a wait for something to come into view.

A friend has a very early one in 6.5 with an even shorter barrel than the 20" or so mine had. It has no infernal side mount either. I have been after that rifle and maybe it's time to try again!

The MS is a dead duck for several reasons

1. Lack of flexibility of the design. Times change and the MS did not accept a scope nor an aperture sight well. Old men who can afford MS rifle cannot see iron sights.
Can you imagine trying to make an MS action set that works with everything from a .17 Fireball to a .458 Lott?

2. Expense of manufacture. I worked in manufacturing my entire career. The MS like the M98 and the Garand rifles are turkeys when it comes to what you get for the cost of manufacture. There are way too many manufacturing operations that required dedicated setups. Now that there are 5 axis milling centers they would be easier to build but the people that own those machines can make a lot more money making parts that sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars per part.

One look at the spool would say something.

Because of the split rear receiver bridge , would be my guess !

because this thread is from 2004!

quote:

Originally posted by 724wd:
because this thread is from 2004!

Like Generalissimo Francisco Franco - It is still dead.

Well most of the reasons are listed above.

To summarise

1. Spit bridge design is out dated & expensive to fit a scope
2. The spool rotary magazine is specific to each cartridge - it is the smoothest in-line feeding magazine rifle but expensive to make.
3. The original 1903 action is for 45,000 cup and less cartridges. Subsequent MCAs from the 1950s were modified but they are not as silky & amazingly wonderful as the ones made before WW2.
4. With today's CNC technology it would cost about $4,500+ to just make such a rifle and then add all the overheads & margin - minimum $7k retail.


They are wonderfully smooth handling rifles. I sold my 1903 sporter in 6.5X54 a few years ago as I needed the money. My 1903 Greek carbine has a stuffed barrel & I cannot find a reamer in NZ. My 1910 takedown 9.5X57 is being re-stocked ..... a loooong project .....

quote:

Originally posted by fish280:
the closest you could come with minimal expense would be a portugese mauser. it uses a standard, mauser box-type magazine but has a split bridge and forward-mounted bolt handle like the MS, is very finely finished.

Another nice one is the Hungarian that they made for the Germans as the G98/40 JHV. They are kind of rare thought. They too have a box magazine and are finely made. I have one. I got it as a sporterized rifle, wish it had been unaltered.

I have an original Mannlicher stocked carbine - built in 1908. Fantastic condition - metal all original, stock was refinished with velvet oil. It has a replica bolt release peep sight.

I'd love to have a new one with a standard stock and a 24" barrel with the traditional front/side scope setup.

Austin
Where did you get the replica Lyman sight?

I believe Wiseman was were I got it. He mad replicas years ago. I got lucky last year and he had three left that he pulled together some parts on - they were all quickly purchased.

The Mannlicher Collectors Association Website has been abandoned for a few years. I wish someone would revive it.