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Thread: 6.5x53R Mannlicher Carbine Re-Do

  1. #1
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
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    6.5x53R Mannlicher Carbine Re-Do

    Green Mountain had 19" blanks on for forty seven dollars so... it just arrived.
    Next will be sending off dummy rounds to have a chamber reamer made.

    Then there comes the big decision, the glass.
    Maybe someone makes a scope that looks like it belongs on a 1915 carbine?

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy eric123's Avatar
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    To me, a Weaver K2.5 would look neat on there...

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
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    OK, that's on my list to check out. Thanks.

    I have an ongoing infatuation with this little carbine, originally purchased with the intent of using it as a .26 - .27 caliber small game piece with low intensity cast loads. But, turns out the person that sold it to me was bereft of the usual qualities of character one normally expects of humanity (in other words I was far too trusting). The bore dematerialized with the first application of Hoppe's No.9, which gives me license to indulge not only whims but that ever growing need for glass. Have looked of course at the repro's marketed by Hi-Lux and Accumounts. Too bad I don't have a spare Unertl. Just to cover all the bases I've search around the interseine for antique Zeiss's (hey, you never know!).
    The 19" blank will allow the barrel to be lengthened a little but not enough to be unsightly to the aesthetics of the piece. The twist is 8" which fits with plans for low speed cast but can also allow the use of some pretty high BC jacketed.
    And that brings me back to the task of creating sample rounds to have a reamer made. I have to design cartridges today because after all, whims should be satisfied.
    Gonna set the trim length for the brass and select the bullets but you only get to do it once so better not become .
    Last edited by Good Cheer; 02-10-2018 at 08:16 AM.

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master


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    I certainly understand the need for glass! I've got a few milsurps that will get scout mounted scopes, if you can't see it you can't hit it I'm sure you will be pleased with a nice new barrel on it of correct dimensions.
    Charter Member #148

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    Leupold still makes a 2.5 x 20, also a 4 x 28 in their Ultralight line, they also have a special order 3 x 20. There are some 1.5-4 or 5 x 20's out there Nikon, Weaver... most have matte finishes, small and simple.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I have older Redfield's 2.75 with post on my classic rifles. 6.5 is a very good all round cartridge and a better killer than a 30-30. I had one in 1969 but the bore on mine was oversize and it was just too nice to take into the field.

  7. #7
    Boolit Man
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    Good Cheer, I am awful curious as to how you intend to mount your glass. I am faced with a similar problem, 1904 Steyr Mannlicher. I would like to retain the en bloc charging, which puts the scope ridiculously high or forward. I too prefer an old somewhat period scope. The Scout configuration is not very appealing to me. My receiver is 1.3" dia so I'm thinking an old Pachmayr Lo-swing from a 722 or 721 Remington. I'd like to hear how you do your project. flintlocke

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
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    flintlocke,
    Yeah, I'm scratching my head over how to pull this off.
    The solution is an early 20th Century scout scope that apparently doesn't exist.
    The WWII German scope with extended eye relief can be had in reproduction but it doesn't much appeal to me.
    Still looking for ideas...

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    They are delightful little rifles, and it would be hard to find any practical inferiority to the legendary Mannlicher-Schoenauer which I love dearly. The cartridge is just as good, as indeed could be the 6.5mm. Mannlicher-Carcano if more powerfully loaded.

    Scope mounting, both to cycle and to remove the bolt, is tricky. I am a great believer in the 1950s Bausch and Lomb external-adjustment sporting scopes, which use adjustable mounts which were sold under their own name or as Kuharsky. They do appear sometimes on eBay. These suppliers look useful:

    http://www.ssfirearms.com/products.asp?cat=7

    https://www.gunpartscorp.com/categor...nd-lomb?page=2

    I believe there is another in New York State who claims to have a good deal of old stock. I have heard it said that the business is gone though, and his is a mummified website:

    There was a Mannlicher-Schoenauer mount (I've got mine!), which like its receiver sights can go very expensive or be cheap, according to which way the wind blows. I don't know if it fits or could be altered for the box-magazine rifle. But it wouldn't be hard to adapt various others, the front end fitted to the receiver ring and the rear to a home-made L-shaped bracket, possibly bedded on epoxy and lamp-black. Two-piece might be best, as these mounts are pretty free and easy about alignment in the vertical.

    Once that is done, you can unclip and fit the scope to as many rifles as you like, with the adjustment remaining on each rifle. No prizes for guessing why that vanished from the market. The scope isn't strictly contemporary with your rifle or my 1926 Mannlicher-Schoenauer, but it looks the part, and is pretty well up to modern optical standards.

    Loading under the scope is impossible with clips. I believe I would try to install fixed magazine lips and a hinged floor-plate, to permit loading from the bottom. Dutch 1895 Mannlicher floorplates and trigger-guard and magazine assemblies are available from Numrich. I don't know for sure about compatibility with the Romanian 1893, but it seems likely, and would let you preserve original parts and get away with a mistake. Except for money, of course.

    I positively dislike the Scout scope system. I think it has to be at least close to 1x power (a far from useless figure) to permit merging into the uninterrupted picture from the other eye. Since I don't have binocular vision, and keep my left eye corrected only enough to change extreme myopia into close-up reading, the Scout scope is just a tiny and distant picture for me.

    As to antique Zeiss or other central European scopes, good ones will be expensive. One of my bitterest memories was of finding a Voigtlander with leather case marked "made for the Ross rifle" on a market stall. I went into elaborate hesitation in the hopes of a reduction from £20... The people who call the Scots mean with money have obviously only met east coast people, but principle is principle. Then my friend said "I'll take it." I do have a pre-war Zeiss Zielklein, which is really a 7/8in. .22 scope, on a .40-65 Martini (or some European cartridge indistinguishable from one.) I wouldn't worry about recoil, since the moving reticle, on a sliding gate, must be as strong as strong can be. It is in early Boehler external-adjustment mounts, of a kind with everything going for them but cheapness to make. The scope itself, though, about qualifies as the best sporting iron sight in the world.
    Last edited by Ballistics in Scotland; 02-15-2018 at 05:39 AM.

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
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    After putting a pistol scope on a long heavy bench gun muzzleloader I think, yeah, I can live with a scout scope better than not seeing the target... if I find one that doesn't make me wince just to look at it.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    You might consider magazine modification to the GEW 88/05 standard for use without Mannlicher packet clips. This will permit using a normally mounted scope.
    Last edited by EDG; 03-15-2018 at 02:56 AM.
    EDG

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
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    Most all the Gew88 and Mannlicher sporters I've had or have seen with scopes had them simply mounted off set.
    Not an uncommon way of doing it at all.
    That settles the loading problems with the packet clips. It also leaves the view wide open to use the iron sights w/scope in place.
    No bolt handle or safety alterations. It remains in true classic form
    The common attachment style was the claw mount system in one form or another. Not inexpensive to find nor get installed correctly of course. But a solid mount could be used also if wanted.
    But the thought of mounting one in 'Scout' style just wouldn't be acceptable to me.
    Try a diopter or bolt peep sight first before going for a glass sight. They can greatly improve sighting ability with ageing eyes.

    Just some thoughts.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    The GEW 88/05 modification permits loading loose rounds in a single stack. Using a Mannlicher Schonauer mount you can mount the scope over the center of the bore.
    In the case of a Dutch 1895 you would need to convert everything to function with a rimless cartridge.

    The bolt head is almost identical to the Mannlicher Schonauer parts and is easily swapped. The real work is narrowing the magazine to work with a rimless round.
    Last edited by EDG; 03-15-2018 at 03:06 AM.
    EDG

  14. #14
    Boolit Man
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    IMHO sporterizing a dutch mannlicher is a quite a frustrating job. First it's better to maintain original round otherwise bolt head has to be reworked for reliable extraction. Second you have to decide what magazine you want: en bloc clip or spare rounds. In the first case you can only adopt an off set scope and in the second you'll be charged with hours of competent gunsmith work to have milled receiver and elastic round stop or (better) to have a conversion a la mauser 91. Scope mounts: the most historical correct would be the Wien mount you can find only after an endless research on european market. Not to mention the stratospheric cost. Is it worthwhile for an ancient milsurp? Maybe an old Weaver pivot mount can help. After all the best (and economical) compromise could be a pivoting peep sight. They say bolt peep are unreliable.

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Be aware that the high BC bullets like the Hornady ELDs are very long and may not cycle thru the action while set close to the rifling. I have run into this problem with a new Ruger Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor. Accuracy with magazine length cartridges is good but loaded long and fed into the chamber singly it is usually less than .5 moa.
    I also have this issue with a 91 Argentine Mauser I converted to 6.5 X 55 Swede.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    Just a thought: could you install a Lyman cocking piece sight on a Dutch Mannlicher, or a repro Rigby-style cocking piece sight?

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    Yes the Mauser or Rigby bolt peep can be mounted since the bolt is nearly identical to the Mannlicher Schonauer bolt.
    The Lyman 35 swinging peep for the original 1903 Mannlicher Schonauer will also fit if you can find one.

    Quote Originally Posted by gnoahhh View Post
    Just a thought: could you install a Lyman cocking piece sight on a Dutch Mannlicher, or a repro Rigby-style cocking piece sight?
    EDG

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
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    For Lyman #266673 and #266469, what twists has any you guys gotten them to shoot in?

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    Good Cheer,

    I have a M95 6.5x53R original carbine. I have clips. Where do you find brass and reloading dies?

    Adam

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master pietro's Avatar
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    For all things in European Sporting Rifles, I would suggest checking out the New England Custom Gun website for ideas & parts (sights, mounts & more):

    https://www.newenglandcustomgun.com/


    .
    Now I lay me down to sleep
    A gun beside me is what I keep
    If I awake, and you're inside
    The coroner's van is your next ride

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
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LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check