Steyr M95 8x56R Straight Pull

[ukrifleman]

I am thinking of adding one of these rifles to my collection and would be grateful for any information/guidance in what to look out for, as well as information on cast loads for it.

Many thanks,

ukrifleman.

[Dan Cash]

Mine is marked with an M (modified?) and is chambered for 8x57 mauser and modified so that the enbloc clip is not needed. I have not developed a cast load for it as the throaat is quite large and I do not have a large enough bullet yet. The rifle does very will with some WWII vintage ammo. It is a pleasant rifle to shoot as the stock seems well designed. Only thing I can think of to watch for is a worn out "bolt track" or guide where the bottom of the bolt is guided into the receiver.

[ukrifleman]

Mine is marked with an M (modified?) and is chambered for 8x57 mauser and modified so that the enbloc clip is not needed. I have not developed a cast load for it as the throaat is quite large and I do not have a large enough bullet yet. The rifle does very will with some WWII vintage ammo. It is a pleasant rifle to shoot as the stock seems well designed. Only thing I can think of to watch for is a worn out "bolt track" or guide where the bottom of the bolt is guided into the receiver.

Thanks Dan,
I will add this information to my list of things to watch out for.

ukrifleman.

[birddog1148]

I hear the extractors break easy and are hard to find. Mine seems to shoot ok.

[Wayne Smith]

Extractors are unobtanium and do break if loaded singly. You need at least one clip, this is a Mannlicher style magazine - it drops out the bottom when you chamber the last round. Brass and bullets are available through Graff's. The best boolit is the Oldfeller Frankenstein.

[Uncle Grinch]

I seem to remember one the Buckshot had that was rebarreled to 30-40 Krag. They are "different" than your traditional bolt action rifles. Maybe that's why they intrigue me.

[ukrifleman]

Thanks guys for the information, the extractor thing seems to be a common phenomenon with Mannlicher charging systems.

My M91 Carcano is similar in this respect.

ukrifleman

[zuke]

I do believe Hornady is making/made ammo for it. Buy 5 box's and you'll have brass for awhile.

[Brett Ross]

Graff stocks privi brass. I use the lee c338-220-1r boolit and it shoots well. My bore is .332, so I size .334 shoots well for me. Knowing what I do now would use Char Gar' s method for determing boolit size. On a side note. These make a fine deer rifle, light and accurare and fast follow up shot, thoug I have never needed one.

[keyhole]

I have had the full length rifle version for about 20 years. After shooting about 500 rds of German marked 1938 surplus FMJ, the stock has developed several cracks which I am dealing with now. The recoil with this ammo is significant, so went to cast a couple of years ago. The bullet I use is from Lee mold C329-205-1R, which is designed specifically for the 8 X 56R cartridge. I size mine 0.329 and lube with Lee Alox. A number of posters in other threads feel that 0.329 is too small but ammo made with this bullet work fine in my rifle. I never bothered to slug the bore, since bullet sizing 0.329 seems to be the right size for my rifle. Accuracy is the same as the military surplus. I only shoot offhand. At 100 yards, the Lee bullet made with linotype and 23.5 grains of AA 5744 keeps them in a 6" circle if I do my part. Bench groups would no doubt be better. Recoil is mild and very pleasant.
Some references I have seen about rifles which were rechambered to 8mm Mauser suggest that this conversion is not safe. I am only repeating what I have read elsewhere. I do not have any personal knowledge of safety of this conversion.
The original chambering for this rifle was 8 X 50R. Rifles rechambered to 8 X 56R have a large "S" stamped on top of the receiver. This was an arsenal conversion. Mine was built in 1915 and has the large "S".
Good luck

[bnelson06]

Fun rifle. I like the look people get when they see how the action works, the straight pull seems scary to them for some reason.

[ukrifleman]

Thanks for the input guys, I have done the deal and should be taking possession shortly.

Keyhole's load of the Lee bullet and 23 gn of 5744 was just what I had in mind, it works well in my M1892 Berthier Artillery carbine and seems like a good place to start.

ukrifleman.

[RPRNY]

I too am intrigued by this rifle. It looks ideal as a faux Scout Rifle. I rather think an inexpensive Red Dot would be preferable to a scout scope however.

PPV makes good ammo in this caliber and en bloc clips are available from several Internet sources.

[Dan Cash]

...............................
Some references I have seen about rifles which were rechambered to 8mm Mauser suggest that this conversion is not safe. I am only repeating what I have read elsewhere. I do not have any personal knowledge of safety of this conversion. ............................

I believe those warnings are in reference to the early version of this rifle with the tipping lug under the bolt. I do not recall what the nomenclature is for that model.

[Charley]

Yes, the 1888 Model was/is a BP rifle, the 88/90 was for a semismokeless cartridge. The later 1895, with locking lugs, instead of the tipping block wedge, are considerably stronger rifle, quite a few were converted to 8x57JS in WWII.

[gew98]

The M95 was made in 8x50 and after WW1 most in service were rechambered to 8x56. If you manage to chamber 8x56 ammo in an 8x50 and walk away from it consider yourself lucky. Not as many as one would think were rebuilt to handle 8mm mause ( rimless ) and original spare extractors for any variant just do not exhist anymore. I had an M35 Hungarian and an M43 , both fun to shoot but the M43 easier to feed since it was 8mm mauser caliber.

[farmallcrew]

check to see which caliber getting to you know what ammo to look for. There is still a good supply of surplus ammo at gun shows for 8x50 an 8x56r, but the 8x50 is a little harder to find. Reloading dies are molds are a little hard to come by but every now and then some come up for sale.

embloc clips are farily cheap on gunbroker, i got a bunch that are Nazi marked, and a bunch of surplus ammo that is Nazi as well.

Ive had 4 of 8x56r Steyr, love them all, have not had any problems with any of them. Cheap surplus gun, but does a number on your shoulder

[Finnmike]

I have a very nice 95/34 over on Gunboards now - it is not a pleasant carbine at all to shoot with full-power ammo. It kicks me hard enough to make my upper jaw sore for a day or two. Last year I found a uncut long rifle in 8x56 at RCBS - mint bore and gorgeous stock. It too kicks the snot out of me. I even pulled some rounds and reduced them by 20% and they now approach tolerable levels of pain. This is a rifle that separates the girls from the boys, for certain.

[Dschuttig]

If you are thinking about adding one of these to your collection consider afew things...
A. Bore condition. They pop up on gunbroker all the time, so hold out untill you find one with a nice bore. I have several with brand new barrels. Some of them have barrels that are beyond shot out.
B. Bore diameter - can vary all over the place.I have an original long rifle with original WWI Barrel that comes in at just under .329 and shoots the lee bullet well. Others are above .331, and I have heard of rifles with bores over .334, although I have never personally had one this big.
C. Do you want to reload for it? 8x56r is still around, but sells for about $1/round with the clips. 8x50r has dried up all the way around. Coming from a guy that has several guns in both calibers,I will tell you that 8x56r is much, MUCH easier to load for. The 8x50r uses a ,323 dia 244 GR round nose bullet with a flat base. No one, to the best of my knowledge makes this. Cast bullets are difficult at best, because the bore diameter remains the same between the two, at ,329-,334. When the rifles were recut for 8x56r the chamber and throats were opened up to allow a bullet of proper diameter to be chambered. Not so with the 8x50r, as a bullet over about ,326 will not chamber without turning the necks to the point of almost being to thin. Brass can be formed for the 8x50r by simply shortening and forming 8x56r. some use 7,62x54r, but the base is smaller than the austrian cartridges.
D. Dies - Cheap lee dies are available for x56r, but x50r is special order ($$$)

I am running a group buy for the oldfeller frankenstien mold, but it seems to be forever getting miha to make it.

Regards, Dan

[Wayne Smith]

I thought NOE got the design from Bruce?