There are no marks on this rifle but I think it's one of the many Mauser variations. We took this in at the gun shop but we can't ID it. The we bought it from called it a German Boar hunting gun- Thanks for any help.

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	8mm Boar Gun 011.jpg (35.2 KB, 286 views)
	8mm Boar Gun 020.jpg (25.1 KB, 302 views)
	8mm Boar Gun 024.jpg (32.3 KB, 323 views)

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That looks like a Mannlicher Steyr sporting rifle. Any idea of what caliber it is?

Looks exactly like a Mannlicher design. Does it take an en bloc clip? Is there a hole in the bottom of the magazine?

Now that I look closer I can see the en bloc clip peeking through the bottom of the magazine well, so yes it is a Mannlicher.

Definitely Mannlicher. If still the original caliber (and the presence of the clip suggests that it is), probably 8x56mm Mannlicher caliber. Many militarys were converted to 8x57mm Mauser, indicated by a stamped letter "S."

Bob

Here's some more clues-

There are no stamping on the barrel of any kind except under the under side of the barrel there are the numbers, "470" and "532". On the under side of the bolt nob is the stamped number "532". On the stock under thwe barrel where it can not be seen unless the barrel is removed is written on the wood, "532 Meijer". The stock appears to be completely hand made and checkered. The very old bullets they came with the rifle have "8mm" on the base. Also, there is a stag horn ring around the tip of the barrel- the barrel is about 19".

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Mannlicher straight pull of some kind. You see the milsurp ones advertised as Model 1895 or 1895/34, depending on the mod state and where they came from.

If it came from Germany it may be in some funky non-standard caliber, like 8.15 or something. It had to do with the Versaille treaty and what were counted as military arms.

You can take it to a gunsmith and have a chamber cast done. The casting can be measured to determine what caliber it is.

Thanks all. So, I'm getting that this is a Steyr-Mannlicker, probably 8x56mm, 19" barrel, straight pull bolt, en bloc clip that has been customized by someone named, "Meijer" who machined off all outward markings, added a custom stock a stag horn ring around the tip of the barrel, a set trigger set-up and added his "serial" number 532. I have found the Austrian coat of arms stamped on the removable clip. From what I see on GB, these guns as stock are not worth much. But this one being well customized might bring more- it's light, quick to bring up, and has a great set trigger.

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Are the cartridges that came with the rifle rimmed or rimless?

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I need ammo, not a ride.

They are back in the shop and I didn't get a good look at them. What would that tell you?

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Some Mannlichers were modded for 7.92x57 (8mm Mauser by any other name) rimless ammo like the Yugoslav M95M and the Bulgarian (I think) 95/24. It might give another clue on the caliber.

It is most likely in 8x56R but if it was done early in the 20th century then it could be in 8x50R.

Thanks- I'll check that when I get back into the shop. Steve

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Mannlicher-Schonaur (sp?) I had one alooong time ago (7mm I believe) that had the double set triggers. It was factory Mannlicher. The way that magazine housing is built, it looks original.

Random thoughts.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

Wasn't the Mannlicher Schoenauer the one with the slick rotary mag?

Yes, and Rhiner is 'way off base on the bolt, too. This is a straight - pull action!

The Mannlicher-Schoenauer has a normal turning bolt, like a Mauser or Enfield in that regard. The Greeks adopted it in 1903, but it's much better known for use in sporting rifles and full-stocked (stutzen) carbines. They may have single or double-set triggers. Most have flat bolt handles.

The M-S M-1908 sporting arms were in caliber 8X56mm Mannlicher-Schoenaur. (Rimless. Looks a lot like 8X57mm Mauser.) I had one, and loved it. But ammo was hard to find. Speer imported some from DWM years ago, but not lately. I also got a box of Western brand US-loaded ammo from the 1930's. It's a weaker-loaded round than modern 8x57mmS Mauser ammo.

The rifle shown is probably chambered for some other ctg. with a rim. It looks like a German or Austrian custom gunsmith made it, probably between WWI and WW II.

You'll need a chamber cast and a copy of, "Cartridges of the World." No telling which round it takes.

It might be a "German boar-hunting rifle." Or a German rehbok (roe deer) or red deer, etc. rifle...depending on what was being hunted that day. Maybe chamois in the Alps. Maybe a fox. You get the idea. "German boar-hunting rifle" is just gun show sales hype by an ignoramus who doesn't know what it is.

The action was probably made by Waffenfabrik Steyr.

The rotary magazine on the quite different M-S rifles was designed by Otto Schoenauer. The other designer was Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher. I'm sure you can find him on Wiki, etc. He was a major rival of Mauser.

Mannlicher military rifles were used by Austria-Hungary, Holland, Romania, etc.

My bet is that it's a Model 1895 Steyr-Mannlicher chambered in the standard 8x56Rmm military round. The adaptation of the double set trigger is a nice touch and I would further bet that it's a nice shooter. Plenty of mil-surp ammo available right now (on clips), and unless I misremember, it can be formed from 7.62x54R.

Larry

Those guys are right. Mine loaded rounds singly into the magazine, not by clip.

Forget I was here.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

Sporter built on the Austrian M95. The original Military caliber was 8x50R.
A true 8mm at .323 groove diameter. You can make cases by reforming 7.62 Russian cases.
Most all the 8x50R versions of the Austrian Military rifle and Carbine were converted by the Germans once they took over Austria & the Steyr Works
to 8x56R.

The 'K' inspector mark(s) on the action are Steyr Works/Austria mark.

THe M95 is a common fairly recent surplus arm on the market,most altered to carbine form in the 1930's, some in the mid sized 'Steutzen' (sp?) lenght. Original (long) rifles are somewhat hard to find anymore.
8x56R has a slightly larger bore dia at .329 and longer case of course.
Caliber conversions (Military bbls) usually have an 'S' on the top of the bbl along with (19)37, 38, ect w/ W/eagle Vienna proof house markings.
I think the carbines were produced during WW2 at the Hungarian arsenal under German control also.

I think the rifle (action) in the OP might have come from a 8x56R miltary because the front receiver ring has the small cut out to allow the bullet nose to pass easily during loading of the enbloc. That wasn't necessary on the earlier caliber 8x50R.
But,,, it may just be an element added during the sporter process as a necessity because of a caliber change too.
You really need to check carefully to determine caliber/case. There's lot's of '8mm's' too!

Both Military versions used the 5rd enbloc clip. The market was flooded with the ammo in the 90's. Original late 30's German mfg in original marked packaging & clips.
2 5rd enbloc clips to a box. I remember paying 99cents a box for them at gunshows.

If a pre-War made sporter,none of those markings or conversion would apply of course.
Also, it is not all that uncommon to find these 95'sporters in other calibers , some metric, some rimless, even some US sounding calibers even though made in Europe between the wars or even before WW1.
Gunsmiths of the period converted many of these to sporters. Some using the original bbl, some rebbling them.s of
Never in the numbers of Mauser bolt rifles of course. But almost no Military rifle escaped the sporter rifle makers bench. No different there than here.
The DSTs are always a nice touch and almost a given that they'll appear on a European made sporter.

The Yugo conversion was the M95M. It used a sheet metal insert 3 sided magazine of sorts to enable the use conversion to standard 8mm Mauser. The insert remained permanetly inside the mag well of the assembled rifle. CArtridges are loaded singly or with standard Mauser stripper clips. No enbloc clip falling from the rifle after the last round is chambered.
They also have an extractor conversion on the bolt for the rimless case, which along with the mag insert is often missing on these rifles when offered for sale. Check carefully as neither part is easy to find nor cheap. I sold a mag insert alone a couple years ago for $70.
With that, they can also be re-bbl'd and made into most any standard round with the '06 head size and 57mm case length or slightly shorter and still work nicely. Some think they are only marginally safe with the 8mm Mauser round. I shot a couple for many years w/surplus ammo w/o any problems,bolt set back, ect. I wouldn't push them too hard though!

They were a bit brutal in the recoil dept as are the little 8x56R carbines.

Years ago I had one of those gunsmithed Steyr straight pulls. It had been tastefully made into a "stalking rifle" with a light weight cheekpiece stock , a 18" pencil thin barrel with a full rib, double set triggers and a 3 leaf express sight. It was sweet little thing and kicked like a mule! (It was in 8x50R and weighed less than 6 lbs. ) The other thing I remember was that you could only get about 3 shots off before the barrel started warping from the heat and the accuracy went all to pieces. Let it cool off and everything was fine again. This was OK because my shoulder could also only take about 3 shots at a time.

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SWCA #680 SWHF #446

More pictures

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	8mm Boar Gun 001.jpg (37.4 KB, 84 views)
	8mm Boar Gun 002.jpg (137.8 KB, 87 views)
	8mm Boar Gun 003.jpg (27.5 KB, 92 views)
	8mm Boar Gun 017.jpg (46.8 KB, 84 views)
	8mm Boar Gun 004.jpg (29.0 KB, 86 views)

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The rifle was originally an Austrian M 95 straight pull military rifle in caliber 8X50R. Many were rechambered in the 1930s to 8X56R. Groove diameter is .329" regardless of chambering. It has been sporterized, probably in Europe by the looks of it. The stock is commercial, not a reformed military. If rebarreled, it could be in any caliber, however, so a chamber cast is necessary. Dimensions of the rounds that came with the rifle would be very informative: diameter of rim, diameter of base, case length, diameter of bullet.

Here are pictures of the cartridges. The diameter of the base is 14 mm, the case length is 56 mm, the bullet is 8 mm diameter and the total length is 3".

Attached Images

	Bullets 001.jpg (57.1 KB, 37 views)
	Bullets 004.jpg (122.6 KB, 51 views)

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Those are std. military 8x56R rounds. The waffenampt indicates Nazi manufacture in 1938. You have a nicely done sporter with new sights, stock and the markings were all scrubbed.

As others have said, kicks like a mule. Not a particularly easy round to reload, but it can be done. The boxes of 10 rounds on 2 clips that sold for 99 cents in the 1980's now sell for 5 or 6 bucks in my local gun shows. The Nazi marked ones go for a premium vs. the Austrian marked ones.

That's some collectible ammo right there.

Boxer primed cases for the 8X56R were available a few years ago. I forget the maker. Probably still available if you know where to look. If I were a boar, I would not want to encounter one of those 200 gr±, .329" bullets in soft point variety.

Meijer had good taste and skill.
Nicely done! I love the classic lines, wedged forend, stag cap, leaf rear sight and DST. Everything but a rail.

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Lee Jarrett

That IS a beauty! Gypsum Jim is correct, standard 8x56R. I had a chance to chronograph one of the military Stutzens with that 1938 issue ammo, and it got 2400 fps with a 200 gr. bullet. Accuracy was very good at 100 yards with iron sights.

Things to be cautious about -- don't drop a cartridge into the breech and close the bolt -- this was meant to feed from the en-block clip, which prevents stress on the extractor. Extractors are very hard to find, from what I understand. The en-bloc clips are getting harder to find, and people are trying to ask insane prices for them. I'd stock up as they become available at reasonable prices.

"The boxes of 10 rounds on 2 clips that sold for 99 cents in the 1980's now sell for 5 or 6 bucks in my local gun shows." I would buy all I could get at 5-6 bucks/box. People are asking that, or more than that, for just the clips. Of course, the ammo is corrosive primed, so cleaning immediately and thoroughly after firing is important. The salts from the corrosive primers dissolve in water, so after you have scrubbed the bore thoroughly with solvent and brush/patches, and have gotten it clean, I would put a few patches with hot water down the bore to neutralize any leftover priming residue. Then dry and follow with oil as a preservative, and check it for the next few days to make sure no spots were missed, etc. It's not really a big deal, just a little more work/attention to detail than when using non-corrosive primers.

Boxer primed brass and bullets -- both FMJ and SP -- are available from Graf and Sons, in Mexico, MO and it's not a hard cartridge to reload.
That's a beautiful rifle... I call dibbs if you ever get tired of it!! :-)

John

Nice piece!

Graf and Son has Prvi Partizan 8x56R ammo in stock for $22.59 per box.

About 30 years ago, I found one of the short rifles in a friend's gun shop. Nice, handy little gun. However, the barrel was as crooked as dawg's laig. He offered it to me for $29.95 and I bit, as I've always liked the straight pull actions.

It sat in the closet for a couple of years. Numrich Arms evenually offered some 8x56R barrels, for $29.95. I bought one and removed the bent barrel. However, my new barrel was .004" too big. Not having access to a lathe, I laid the barrel on top of the slightly opened jaws of my vise and using a large mill b*****d file, I filed, then turned, then filed, then turned, etc, checking often with my mike. FINALLY got it to the right diameter, but it wouldn't thread in, 'cause the barrel threads were now flattoped. Got out my triangular file and then filed, then turned, then filed, then turned, etc. Once I got the threads cleaned up, I installed the barrel.

I already had some of the Nazi stamped ammo and the above posters were correct, it KICKED.

Kept it for several years and then sold it to a friend.

Shouldda named my little gunshop, Po' Boys Gunsmiffin'.

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Did you headspace and index it with a file as well?

How'd you guess?

It only took a little filing on the barrel shoulder to align the sights.

The rimmed cartridge headspaced on the rear of the barrel and I got lucky, everything fit within specs. There was no major stretching of the cases.

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