OT Mannlicher Schoenauer M1908

[Mainehunter]

I couldn't resist not showing off my new acquisition even though it's not a levergun.










A model 1908 M-S in 8x56. I have been waiting a long time to get my hands on one of them. Just waiting now for some brass, dies and cast bullets.

Mainehunter

[Old Time Hunter]

Beautiful rifle, is that a straight pull?

[JerryB]

That is a slick little beauty,the lines are close to a lever. It should carry real nice.
Does it have the butter knife bolt?

[Ben_Rumson]

Aww maaan..I wanted to see the bolt handle too... Sweet rife ya got there !

[cas]

You can tell it's made for irons.... Ooooooh there's a lot of drop in that stock.
Beautiful!

[rjohns94]

Very beautiful.

[Mainehunter]

Sorry about that..not showing the bolt



JerryB - I really don't know the weight but I sure can tell the difference between my Savage 1899 TD in one hand and the M1908 in the other.

Old Time Hunter - I don't think it's a straight pull I'm not an expert but the forward trigger "fires" the rifle, the rear trigger "sets" the forward trigger.

Mainehunter

[Hobie]

It is not a straight pull.

Very neat gun! Thanks for sharing!!

[BenT]

I handled one of those last summer . Way COOOL !

[awp101]

What a wonderful sight...

[Wes]

That is the neatest non-lever there is! I'd love to have one of those slick little guns.

[John in MS]

Those are wonderful rifles!! I hope you will take it out hunting and post pics of your adventures!!

I got to shoot an original 1903 Mannlicher Schoenauer carbine in 6.5x54MS.
Although it is very light (maybe 6 lbs) and has ballistics basically identical to a .30-30 (160 gr. bullet, 2200 fps, 36 gr. powder), it felt like it had NO recoil.
Like shooting a big .22! Very accurate, and a joy to carry/shoot.

Thanks for sharing!
John

[6pt-sika]

We picked up a MS 1908 last fall at an auction in Bedford VA .

The rifle is pretty nice ! I have 8x57 brass for reforming and trimming . But I have yet to get a set of dies . I have however made a chamber cast to send to HC4D just to be a extra carefull .





Other rifle in the picture's is a Pre 64 WInchester Model 70 Featherweight in 243 WIN caliber that was made in 1962 .

[Rusty]

Ser goot!

Those are surely a work of the gunmaker's art. A classic.

[Mainehunter]

From 6pt-sika:

The rifle is pretty nice ! I have 8x57 brass for reforming and trimming . But I have yet to get a set of dies . I have however made a chamber cast to send to HC4D just to be a extra carefull .

Just curious how difficult is it to reform/trim the 8x57 brass because I was thinking about doing that? Oh BTW.. Excellent looking rifles you have there! And thanks for the kind words gentlemen!

Mainehunter

[6pt-sika]

Just curious how difficult is it to reform/trim the 8x57 brass because I was thinking about doing that?

To be honest I have not tried yet !

I have some buddies in PA that did this a number of years ago and they were the ones that told me to do this ! As a matter of fact I got a couple hundred pieces of new WIN 8x57 brass from them for this project !

And that makes me a little worried as I also have a sporterized 98 Mauser that is obviousely 8x57 . Maybe I should keep the 98 shooting Remington brass and the MS shooting Winchester brass or vice versa !

You know ever since I was a little guy and I started keeping my face in my dads old 1960 Shooters Bible . I have wanted a Mannlicher Schoenauer !

I originally wanted one of the MCA61's in something like 243 or 308 , then later I wanted a 6.5x54 . And had never gotten one until my pop and I were at the auction in Bedford !

So now I have three mannlicher stocked rifles . The previousely mentioned Mauser 98 , this MS 1908 and an old model Ruger 77RSI (308) .

[Pete44ru]

I thought I knew what smoothness & a precision fit was, before I bought a 1903 6.5x54MS, similar to your carbine.

I REALLY found out what that meant, when I pulled out the spool magazine for a look-see.

It's a tight, precision fit in the receiver - but withdraws as smooth as silk.
Just depress the floorplate button with a cartridge nose and turn the floorplate 90-degrees, then pull downward.

[DerekR]

I LOVE the MS rifles! They have the smoothest bolt action you will ever touch. VERY cool!

[Gun Smith]

Two of the smoothest bolt action rifles out there are Mannlichers and 30-40 Krags.

[shawn_c992001]

Now that's nice!

[JDL]

Most excellent! I think they wrote the book on smoothness. I finally found one in .30'06 7 or 8 years ago and love to shoot it with cast bullets.
JDL

[KCSO]

I had one of those many years ago. They are a nice rifle but I really had to work to get it to shoot good groups. The bore was a tad oversized for the bullets that were available at that time. After I got it to shoot i was afraaid to take it out hunting because I didn't want to scratch it!

IN actual use I thought that the 6.5x54 MS was every bit as good a killer on game as the 308. The ballistics on the 160 or 156 grain 6.5 at 2400 fps isn't all that great, but everything I shot wiht it just dropped with a hole in and a hole out. The gun carried like a 30-30 and was soooo good looking.

[creosote]

Congratulations on that nice little rifle.
I also have a m1908 Mannlicher Schoenauer.
Mine is the half stock version.
Mine came to me in unfired condition as near as I could tell.
I have corrected that situation,Grin.
The strange thing about mine was its near disaster
at a "gunsmith" the previous owner had taken it to.
At one point in its life the caliber designation
"8x57" was added to the proofs on the rifle.
I have come to suspect that it was added to conform to a caliber designation requirement that many countries require of imported fire arms.
The knuckle head with the stamp set likely never
heard of 8x56 ms ,and "corrected" the mistake.
The fellow I got it from warned me that it did not have the right bolt in it as it would not chamber 8mm
mauser. The local smith was ready to run a reamer through it for a tidy sum though!
I traded him out of it and as soon as I got home
I confirmed that it was still in its propper propriatary chambering of 8x56ms.
The sizeing dies were a bit much for my cash strapped situation,and finding someone with a set to swap for was probably not going to happen.
I contacted the Old Western Scrounger and bought a hundred rounds of his ammo, pricey but cheaper than those forming dies by a third.
I reload them by neck sizeing in a 8x57 mauser
die.
I use WWII 4831 for powder as I have a life time supply of it and it is gentile on the brass.
It shoots minute of rock , and I would be confident
of it to the limits of my abilities.
I wish mine was a purty full stock though!
If anyone has a hankering for one I am in a trading state of mind.
Best Regards,creosote

[CraigC]

I love those old MS's. Someday I'll come together with one. The 6.5x54 would be nice but probably any of the metrics would do. Last one I coonfingered was an 8x57 or possibly a 9.3x62. Just didn't have the scratch.