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Thread: Steyr M95 8x57

  1. #1
    Boolit Master nanuk's Avatar
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    Steyr M95 8x57

    there is one for sale up here, and it looks ok.

    but I'm not sure about the caliber

    did they rebarrel these, or just rechamber?

    The guy selling only knows the cartridge, and not bore dimensions.

    it has the look of a nice carrying rifle, just wondering about the chamber/bore and suitability for cast.
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  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master Artful's Avatar
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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steyr-Mannlicher_M1895

    The M1895 was originally chambered in the 8×50mmR Mannlicher cartridge. Between the World Wars, both Austria and Hungary converted the majority of their rifles to fire the more powerful 8×56mmR round. Greece[2] and Yugoslavia[3] converted at least some of their captured M1895s to 7.92×57mm Mauser, fed by stripper clips instead of the original model's en bloc clip system. This conversion was designated M95/24 in Greece and M95M in Yugoslavia. The M95/24 is often mistakenly attributed to Bulgaria, but 8x57mm IS was never a standard caliber of the Bulgarian military.[4] These conversions are prized by collectors for their relative scarcity and chambering in a commonly available round, but suffer from a fragile extractor and a lack of replacement parts.
    http://www.carbinesforcollectors.com/m95.htm

    http://www.gunandswordcollector.com/...rlata_MMR.html

    8x57mm can make a dandy cast cartridge - I have a NEI that walt made back in the day that worked well in a 98K I used to shoot.

    I have slugged my friends M95 8x56R and it uses .329 bullets.
    Last edited by Artful; 09-25-2012 at 08:18 PM.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master nanuk's Avatar
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    converted....

    so, rechamber, or rebarrel?

    that is the question.

    I too have read the Wiki entry, and did some other reading, but can't find the answer.


    the rifle in question has been sporterized and looks like a nice light carry rifle.


    I'm wondering about the barrel though. Anyone know what the twist rate is for the M95 in x56R and x57 ?
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  4. #4
    Boolit Master Baron von Trollwhack's Avatar
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    Both the 8 X 50 R Austrian and the 8 X 56 R use the 9.84 " rifling twist and the .315" X .329" bore and groove dimensions, but like many military rifles there are some manufacturing tolerances to be checked on individual specimens. Think perhaps as in .303 British barrels.

    The specific dimensions above are from W. H. B. Smith's book, "The Book of Rifles", published just after WWII. It did not adress any 8 X 57 Mauser conversions which likely included both rebarreling and action work.

    BvT

  5. #5
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    ...............All the M95M conversions to 8x57 I'd ever heard or read about were missing their extractors. They were also modified so as to not require the 'clips', or 'packets'. This modification may be similar to the Germans' alteration to thier M1888's so as to be fed via stripper clips. The 8x56R case is grossly larger in OD, especially at the rim, then the Bx57 cartridge. Consider that the 45-70 may be used as a parent case for the 8x56 with minor rim alterations. It would have required a new barrel. I personally cannot see how they would have done it otherwise.

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  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
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    The M95M Yugoslavian rifles used to be fairly common, that was more years ago than I like to think though.
    They were rebarreled to 8x57mm Mauser.,,seems like they had a stepped bbl profile like a 98 Mauser.
    They used standard issue military ammunition in 5rd charger clips. A warning used to common against shooting these in 8x57. 'The action wasn't strong enough,,ect'. I never heard of any problems nor
    had any myself. I think it was probably a lot to do with the fear of the straight pull action.
    No 5rd enbloc clip necessary.

    ** The problem with them is that the magazine conversion to use the rimless 8x57 Mauser required an insert to work. The rifle still uses the old calibers magazine follower, but the spring steel insert is needed to hold the rounds in the mag.

    (added...I had originally posted that I had remembered them as looking more like a Carcano en-bloc clip,,but that is not the case obviously. So much for a sharp memory.)

    But the mag insert is put into the rifle as it's assembled and stays inside there. It becomes the feed lips of the magazine.

    If you don't realize that it's supposed to be there, it can be missing and you won't even notice.
    They used to be a fairly easy accessory to buy, but probably a tough one to locate now.

    If I remember correctly, the small extractor on the 8x57 conversion is also different from the original rifle caliber. It's been a long time since I've had one of these so I'm going on memory.

    I remember they were often missing from the conversions. Seems like fits underneath the altered original and used the tension of the original to work.
    The bolt will appear to operate fine w/o it in the rifle when worked manually.
    But when you feed a round into the chamber (providing the 'insert' is in the mag!), you can't extract it using the bolt.

    With all that,,I kind of liked the old beasts. The M95's were almost rare then, ammo for them was unheard of. The M95M in 8x57 was just strange enough to keep the price down and ammo was still inexpensive.

    I might even still have one of the inserts somewhere...

    ....added pics,,I did have one M95M mag insert in the box-o-mags drawer:
    Spring steel. You can see the punched out detents on the sides that keep it in place in the rifle so it doesn't fall free after the last shot like the 8x50R/8x56R style
    They rattle around a little when in the rifle but stay back against the rear of the mag well so you don't have to fiddle with them in loading.
    You can also see why it's an easy part to miss if you're not looking for it in the assembled rifle.
    Hope the info and pics help..



    Last edited by 2152hq; 10-31-2012 at 03:55 PM. Reason: add info, corrections and pics

  7. #7
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2152hq View Post
    The M95M Yugoslavian rifles used to be fairly common, that was more years ago than I like to think though.
    They were rebarreled to 8x57mm Mauser.,,seems like they had a stepped bbl profile like a 98 Mauser.
    They used standard issue military ammunition in 5rd charger clips. A warning used to common against shooting these in 8x57. 'The action wasn't strong enough,,ect'. I never heard of any problems nor
    had any myself. I think it was probably a lot to do with the fear of the straight pull action.
    No 5rd enbloc clip necessary.

    ** The problem with them is that the magazine conversion to use the rimless 8x57 Mauser required an insert to work. The rifle still uses the old calibers magazine follower, but the spring steel insert is needed to hold the rounds in the mag.

    (added...I had originally posted that I had remembered them as looking more like a Carcano en-bloc clip,,but that is not the case obviously. So much for a sharp memory.)

    But the mag insert is put into the rifle as it's assembled and stays inside there. It becomes the feed lips of the magazine.

    If you don't realize that it's supposed to be there, it can be missing and you won't even notice.
    They used to be a fairly easy accessory to buy, but probably a tough one to locate now.

    If I remember correctly, the small extractor on the 8x57 conversion is also different from the original rifle caliber. It's been a long time since I've had one of these so I'm going on memory.

    I remember they were often missing from the conversions. Seems like fits underneath the altered original and used the tension of the original to work.
    The bolt will appear to operate fine w/o it in the rifle when worked manually.
    But when you feed a round into the chamber (providing the 'insert' is in the mag!), you can't extract it using the bolt.

    With all that,,I kind of liked the old beasts. The M95's were almost rare then, ammo for them was unheard of. The M95M in 8x57 was just strange enough to keep the price down and ammo was still inexpensive.

    I might even still have one of the inserts somewhere...

    ....added pics,,I did have one M95M mag insert in the box-o-mags drawer:
    Spring steel. You can see the punched out detents on the sides that keep it in place in the rifle so it doesn't fall free after the last shot like the 8x50R/8x56R style
    They rattle around a little when in the rifle but stay back against the rear of the mag well so you don't have to fiddle with them in loading.
    You can also see why it's an easy part to miss if you're not looking for it in the assembled rifle.
    Hope the info and pics help..



    I have an otherwise fine M95/24 in the Naval Carbine stock, even have a good extractor but no clip and havent been able to find one, been looking for years. Is that for sale perhaps? If not, thanks for the pics, I think I can fabricate something after finally seeing one.

    Any chance I could bother you for some measurements on that critter? It would be a huge help in making one and I would love to be able to really use the rifle.

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