I am looking for a special gunsmith who has experience with the Mannlicher Schonauer 1903.6.5x54, I would like to re-barrel it to a 250-3000, required as I see it the barrel cap the sling swivel and barrel band cover are problematic however doable, the rotary action fitting tends to separate the men from the boys..Of note is it was accomplished by Engel and troesh of Boston some years past..

Any volunteers or suggested gunsmiths? I have one that needs tender loving care.

I have some spare parts for a Greek.

Spool
Stop
Housing
Trigger

I can work on it, Ray
I have the special tools for a rotary

Have you tried the 250 in the magazine? (I always look for the easy out first)

About 15 years ago I converted one to .257 roberts. What a pain in the rear. The problem is these actions need to use a round nose bullet and a cartridge close to the length of the origional. Too much fun for me and I will NEVER do another. Bill

Ray,
KS Gunsmith is absolutely correct. I have re-barreled Mannlicher Schoenauer rifles and am currently working on an M1903. The reason these rifles feed so well is that each action was made for ONE specific cartridge only. Changing cartridges is possible, but the feed rails in the receiver, the magazine rotor, etc. must be altered. This is not easy. Like KS Gunsmith I tried only once.
I'm sure you know the 6.5x54 MS is a great cartridge. Brass & ammo are usually available from Grafs. But, the action was designed for long, 155-160 grain RN bullets and you may experience feeding problems if you try to use lighter bullets with a shorter OAL cartridge length. That said, I had no problems using 120-grain Ballistic Tips in mine.
Roger

Have you tried Jack Belk?

Yes I have, and we discussed it, He wasn;t exactly keen on taking it on, I left it with him to figure out where to go..He presently suggested that it has 14 thou headspace and I needed to fireform the cases and live with it!! Ii fire formed 40 cases and about half worked, I iuse 30 grs of herc Unique corn starch and wax, Maybe I need to use a bullet jam on the others to firearm..

Bottom line the 250-3000 does not feed nothing does and there in lies the problem..

Engel and Trosch of Boston did this conersion to various calibers with complete success, surely we have that same capability somewhere out there. In the meantime I will keep working on Jack and Dennis Olson, I know they can do it, Dennis did a 99 for me and it worked like a charm with his modified 308 rotor to a 30-284..

I really want a 250-3000 1903 MS .

BTW Michael Robinson, AR poster. has one done by Engle and Troesh converted to a 257 Roberts and knows of some smith in Scotland that does that. Dorlac could and would, but I don't want to go out of the USA and deal with Customs and the mail..

Milling that gorgeously made follower on manual machines back in the day must have been quite a job. I can see how I would approach it on a manual mill with a rotary table, but to do it at production level speeds would need some interesting fixtures. I would have loved to seen that shop.

Strange to see those milling marks on the inside of the floorplate. I would have thought they did a better job there based on the level of work that went into the follower.

With modern CAD/CAM it there would be some design time, but then you could crank the parts out. The engineers would probably use molded polymer for the follower now rather than milling billets for cost savings.

Looking at the case dimensions, a rebore to .284" and rechamber to a 7x57 is a possibility as the original follower will work with some modifications. You already know a 257 Roberts is possible (with a new barrel) so a 7x57 is along that same path but you keep the original barrel.

As far as making the new follower you would need to fit the 250 Savage it would be expensive at a machine shop. Maybe see if a second year machining student over at CWI in Nampa would take on the project of making the rotor. They should have the skills by their second year. I saw some nice looking gun parts come out of that program. Once you have the follower then take it to regular gunsmith for the re-barrel.

for one part = 3d print. Couldn't be any worse than any new Steyr magazine today.

If the issue is the .014" of headspace on the original chamber, maybe just get the barrel turned back and rechambered. Obviously you would need one full turn to get the sights indexed correctly.

I found a reference online that the threading for that barrel tenon is the equivalent of 12 TPI so one turn of the barrel is .083". Is there enough barrel over the muzzle cap that you can lose 90 thou in length without it looking funky?

That is certainly safer than shooting fireformed cases from a chamber with 14 thou of excess headspace. That extra length means brass has to come from somewhere.

It can be done.

My .257 Roberts M-S 1903 conversion was done by Engel and Troesch in Boston, Massachusetts, many decades ago, when the ability to gunsmith M-S rifles and carbines was a highly valued skill.

It feeds 117 grain PSP bulleted rounds perfectly.

I have another M-S 1903 conversion, to 6.5x57mm and done in 1992 by Daniel Fraser of the Black Isle in Cromarty, Scotland, that is a work of art and a sure feeder with all 6.5x57mm rounds as well.

I am afraid that machining rotors and otherwise modifying magazines for M-S 1903 caliber conversions has sadly become a lost art.

I am more than willing to be proven wrong.

It has become a lost art, like many lost arts, due to the lack of patrons. Conversely, there is a lack of patrons, because many believe that a gunmaker should be charging $20/hr.

Someone mentioned Dorleac would take on the project. What was the estimate?

quote:

Originally posted by Fal Grunt:
...

Someone mentioned Dorleac would take on the project. What was the estimate?

I suspect that would fall under that old saying "If you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it".

I forgot about the 6.5x57. That would be the best option on the x57 case as the original barrel could be used as is. I bet that Daniel Fraser conversion is very, very nice.

Lots of good advise on the metal, but the inletting conversion would be a nightmare if you shortened the barrel to get the needed thread turning to take care of the location of the crown cap, the tendon or the sling swivel and the first couple of inches of the barrel shrowed, but I think I could do that if I had to..It would certainly be easier to just do a new stock on the 1903 pattern and inlet the barrel channel..It would be a one of a kind beauty..

Not looking good

Bottom line is Id be far better off fireforming cases as it would be cheaper to purchase a rolls-Royce and a flying box car to ship to my door, so I am laying this puppy to sleep..

Ill be in the market for a Ruger 250-3000 and a Renner special modification.