I have a Greek Mannlicher carbine in 6.5X54 which has been nicely sporterized and fitted with a low mounted scope. The safety has been modified to clear the scope ocular, but it does not seem to be stable, with virtually no resistance to being taken off, and I'm afraid that I will accidently unlock the safety mechanism in the field, creating a potentially dangerous situation.

Is there a way of converting the Mannlicher safety, either by modifying the original safety or replacing it with a commercial substitute, which will preserve the original safety's reliable locking feature?

My commercial Mannlicher-Schoenauers either have the scope mounted high enough to clear the original safety, or have an auxiliary trigger safety lever mounted on the right side of the action.

I would prefer to remain with the low mounted scope on the Greek Mannlicher and avoid the trigger safety, which I consider less reliable than the cocking piece safety.

An experienced metalsmith can achieve a reliable locking detent action by altering your present setup or fabbing a new safety lever. AFAIK there has never been an aftermarket scope wing safety for the M-S marketed in the US, all have been bench-fabbed. Frank de Haas addresses sporterizing this action in his Bolt Action Rifles book but his treatment is rather basic and somewhat crude.

There are several excellent metalsmiths who post here, any of the better ones can fab you a nice wing safety that will also serve the original bolt-takedown purpose. Good luck.
Regards, Joe

Thanks for the response. Would such metalsmiths please identify themselves?

Incidentally, I have read and looked at the pictures of de Haas' solution to the safety problem, and agree that it is crude looking. However, it probably functions better than the safety I now have.