Steyr calibre?
Hello,
I recently acquired a little carbine/brushgun ( in gorgeous condition, & sporterized; retaining, I believe, most of its' original finish! ) It was advertised as an 1890 Steyr in 8x56R calibre. I then purchased some of this ammo, only to find that the rounds are too big to chamber. The clip is also too large for the magazine port.
Would anyone have any ideas what I should try next? This is in too nice a condition to leave as a wallhanger! Thank-you for your help!
I recently acquired a little carbine/brushgun ( in gorgeous condition, & sporterized; retaining, I believe, most of its' original finish! ) It was advertised as an 1890 Steyr in 8x56R calibre. I then purchased some of this ammo, only to find that the rounds are too big to chamber. The clip is also too large for the magazine port.
Would anyone have any ideas what I should try next? This is in too nice a condition to leave as a wallhanger! Thank-you for your help!
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It's pretty much impossible to tell what you actually have without examination.
This is a situation where someone would need to lay hands (and eyes) on your piece to determine exactly what it is and what has been done to it.
Stolen from, and with thanks, to Kiwibird0 -
James,
You need to look at the barrel tenon in front of the receiver. If there is NOT an 'S' inscribed there, it is for the original chambering 8x50R. If there is an 'S' there is has been converted to the larger cartridge 8x56R.
Please read this as it is a fairly complete description of the rifles and the variations:
In 1895 the Austro-Hungarian Empire came out with the design that was to be used for much of the next century by one country or another. The M 1895 action was identical to that of the M 1890, except there was a thumbpiece at the back of the firing pin. The M 1895 rifle had a 30.1 inch barrel which gave the 8 X 50R bullet a velocity of 2030 fps. Sights were to 2600 paces. There was a carbine and a stutzen, both with 19.6 inch barrels which gave 1900 fps with the 8 X 50 R round. Their sights were shorter and went up to 2400 paces. The safety was simple and effective; a thumbpiece on the left side of the bolt locked the firing pin in either its cocked or down position. When locked down, the firing pin did not protrude from the bolt face, although when all the way down without the safety applied, the firing pin did stick out of the bolt face and could fire a cartridge. The rifle was slim and well balanced. The carbines were particularly light and handy. Unfortunately the trigger pull is very stiff, lightening the trigger spring will generally affect the bolt stop mechanism.
In the early 1900s, Austria-Hungary made the M95 on contract for Bulgaria. Both rifles and carbines were made. They bear the Bulgarian crest, a lion rampant, on the receiver ring, and the maker's name, Steyr or Budapest and the date of manufacture on the left receiver rail. Steyr also had an earlier contract for M88/90 rifles which also had the Bulgarian crest on the receiver ring. This contract was for 150,000 rifles and 6,000 carbines
The M1895 was the Austro-Hungarian main battle rifle during World War I, and for some time afterwards. An estimated 3,500,000 were made and large numbers have reached the US. The rifle was produced by Steyr for the Austrian Army, marked STEYR M 95 on the receiver. For the Hungarian Army the rifle was produced by Budapest, marked BUDAPEST M 95 on the receiver. About 25%-35% of the total production was made at Budapest. The military acceptance marks show the date of manufacture: they consist of the letters Wn for Wien (Vienna), the Austro-Hungarian double eagle and a two digit date; or Bp for Budapest, the Hungarian crest and a date. Most rifles seem to be dated 17, as production reached its zenith at that point in the war. By 1918 when production ceased, Austria was pretty much on the ropes.
After the war, the small Austrian and Hungarian armies continued to use the M95. In 1930 Austria re-chambered the rifles for a more powerful cartridge, the 8 X 56 M30. The rifles were called the M95/30. Hungary followed in 1931, calling the cartridge the M1931 and the rifle the 31M. The longer round put out a 208 gr. spitzer boat tail bullet at 2280 fps from the rifle length barrel. The groove diameter remained .329 inch and a .329 inch bullet was used. Base and rim were the same as the 8 X 50, so no change was needed in the bolt head or extractor. Rifles are much less common than carbines or stutzens since most of the rifles were cut down to stutzen length. Cut down rifle barrels have the front sight on a barrel band, and the rear is usually the longer rifle sight. Recoil in the 6.5 lb. carbines was pretty grim. Rifles chambered for the 8 X 56R are stamped with a large `S' on the top of the chamber, except that some, not all, Hungarians are stamped H instead. It is possible some rifles were re-chambered without receiving any special markings
According to the treaty of Saint Germain en Laye (1919), after World War I the victors seized much Austro-Hungarian military equipment. M95 rifles were spread all over southern and southeastern Europe. Italy got many rifles, and marked many of them with the letters AOI in a two inch circle on the buttstock. The initials stood for Italian East Africa. Many were used in Ethiopia. Italy also produced 8 X 50 ammunition, most of it headstamped M 8 1937.
Yugoslavia also received many M95s. They were re-barreled with stepped, karabiner length barrels in the German military caliber, 7.9 X 57, by Kragujevac arsenal. The front and rear sights strongly resemble Kar 98k sights. The hole in the bottom of the magazine was plugged, and an adapter fitted in the magazine to accept the 7.9 round. Clip slots were cut on the receiver to accept the German stripper clip. The receiver marking is M95 M, and it is apparent the `M' has been added later. A few of these rifles have surfaced, but almost uniformly they are in horrible condition, having fought in the Balkans under very severe conditions in World War II. The bolt head and extractor are different than on the 8 X 50 and 8 X 56 guns; the extractor is fragile, and both parts are irreplaceable now.
A Model 1924 rifle was also chambered for the 7.9 X 57 cartridge. On the receiver, after the marking M 95, is added /24. It is not known who these were intended for, possibly Greece.
Czechoslovakia received large numbers of M95s, and used them as secondary arms long after production of the Mauser 98 was well under way. They are marked with the Czech acceptance mark on the left side of the barrel; an S or E followed by the Czech lion and a two digit number indicating which unit received the rifle. Poland also used M95s in the original 8 X 50R caliber.
Bulgaria also received a number of M95s as war booty. In the 1930s, these and the contract rifles from early in the century were re-chambered for the 8 X 56R cartridge, and marked with an S. Sometime in their life, the rifles were cut down to carbine length. The Bulgarian arms are the last of the M95s to surface. They were kept as war reserve during the Cold War and are now being imported into the US.0 -
In addition to the fine post NoNonesense left, you may have gotten the wrong ammo. There is a slight possibility that you have the wrong 8x56. The 8x56 civilian version is not the same cartridge and has no where near the taper on the body that the S31 round does, thus making it a more powerful cartridge.
Having said this, and noting you said the gun was sporterized, I think NN is correct about the 8x50 thing; the majority I've seen over the years that were sporterized were done before the S31 rechambering. If it is still in 8x50, that ammo is much more difficult to find than the later 8x56R as it was not produced after a certain date, and the Germans (and Hungarians) during & before (actually, the Austrians under German governance) the war produced alot of 8x56 as this was one of their second line guns.
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James,
Here is a source for the ammunition and the stripper clips. Yes, I know it's expensive but once you get by the initial cost, you can reload your empties! Barring this you can make cartridge brass from 7.62x54R with some work.
OWS = Old Western Scrounger:
#2203 - 8X50R STEYR-MANN 220gr. SP Old Western Scrounger 20 $44.95 Add To Cart
#2739 - 8X56R & 8X50R CLIPS Military 1 $4.95 Add To Cart
http://www.ows-ammo.com/
Best.0 -
Great post you guys. I'm going to keep this info for future reference just incase I should run into the same problem someday. Thanks.
Dean
If they don't trust us with guns, how can we trust them with the government?0
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