KNIL M95 Help

[Texas by God]

Forum member Texas by God did a lengthy write up about his KNIL M95. His had a grossly eroded bore. I have one also. I bet the .268” projectiles will slip fit inside your fired cases. If so, I would load them and try them out. They may still wobble.

I’m sorry but that wasn’t me.
As far as military 6.5 rifles go, I’ve only had a few Swedish and one Japanese.


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[Ajohns]

My m95 infantry rifle shoots well with .268/9. The Carcano style so far anyway. The bore is good, or at least pretty good.
The bore measured .268 and these boolits slip snug in the neck of a fired case from my chamber. Light crimp, 10grs of Unique.

[junkbug]

Sorry I got that wrong. Never had the greatest memory!

[mace2364]

If the chamber is damaged, you’re not SOL. Barrels for those aren’t exactly growing on trees, but you could save the barrel you have. I’m a gunsmith, and I “set back” barrels fairly regularly.

It works like this: the barrel is screwed into the receiver. Obviously the barrel has to be timed so that the sights are at top dead center. So I face off enough for one full turn(typically about .062 or 1/16, but obviously varies based on the thread pitch) Then I run a chamber reamer into the chamber to machine it to proper depth again.

This little bit removes enough material that you basically have a brand new chamber, and throat. At the same time, you don’t lose any real amount of barrel length.

Now, trying to find someone who can do that might present a problem. But if you have a gunsmith in your area with a machine shop, he should be able to do it. Or if you’re in middle Tennesse, or can’t find anyone else, I can help you.

Anyway, if it’s not so serious as to be causing functional problems (like difficult extraction) I wouldn’t worry about it.

[TheAbe]

I finally had the opportunity to get to a store that sells wood dowels today and got both 7/16” and 3/8” dowel lengths. The 7/16” ended up being a bit too tight, but I was able to use a section of the 3/8” dowel with a drill, some 400-grit sand paper, and some cleaner to polish the assumed chamber imperfection. With the bolt again installed, I cycled through a few of the fired cases I have, and while the extraction was still difficult initially, it was noticeably improved, and after 4 (different) cases, was almost completely gone. I’ll clean the chamber more thoroughly another night, but with the .267” slugged bore and the polishing of the burr, I believe the next trip to the range with my KNIL will be significantly improved over the first one.

[TheAbe]

This story sort of saw its continuation under the “improving old barrels” post, but I should update here as well. Second round of testing took place in October, and did not really have any better results, except that the extraction issue has been corrected by removal of the burr. Still have issues forming brass properly as necking down .303 to 6.5 leaves a thick neck with too little diameter for a bullet. I need a case reamer.
Also, I attempted a chamber cast a few weeks ago with disastrous results. I could not pound out the casting and about drove the barrel and receiver through a 2x4 hammering a (padded) steel rod into the casting material to try and knock it out. Ended up having to torch the exterior of the barrel gently until all the cerrosafe melted out. I don’t know what’s going on except perhaps a big pit or something else catching. Anyway, that was a failure. It’s looking like I need a re-chamber to a wider bore to get better quality rifling. I’m thinking keep the x53R chamber but increase the bore diameter to .277 or .283? Thoughts?

[john.k]

Some of the old time gunsmith books described methods of enlarging bores and rifling,but they entailed lots of work and a good deal of mechanical knowledge........I very much doubt a rebore would clean up at 277 ,284 might be OK..............However ,since the gunsmith who does the rebore is the boss,Id think 30 cal would be the most practical............The KNIL guns often have deep pits in the exterior of the barrel.

[john.k]

Incidentally,for the home experimenter ,one practical barrel for these guns is the large ring 98..........the 98 thread is 1.1"x 12 ,the Mannlicher is 1.0625"x12 ............so by using a thread chaser ,its quite easy to reduce the thread to fit.............the face of the breech is somewht different though,as the Mannlicher needs cuts for the extractor and ejector.

[junkbug]

The Indonesians themselves bored out many to .303 Then the rifle will accept standard .303 British ammo. For some reason they labeled their conversions “7.7” (millimeters). Still see a few for sale once in a while.

[TheAbe]

Alternately, I think this might be a good opportunity (along with my Krag and my long Carcano) to begin experimenting with paper-patched cartridges. Anyone load a Dutch M95 with paper-patched bullets in 6.5x53R?

[Wilderness]

The Indonesians themselves bored out many to .303 Then the rifle will accept standard .303 British ammo. For some reason they labeled their conversions “7.7” (millimeters). Still see a few for sale once in a while.

The Lithgow factory in Australia converted 600 Dutch Mannlichers to .303 for the NEI government (ref. Skennerton), presumably to simplify logistics in the face of the Japanese advance. Unfortunately the ship taking them back to the Indies was sunk by the Japanese, so those rifles would be badly salt affected by now.

[TheAbe]

Bottom of the ocean? They might be in better condition than most of the KNIL carbines currently on the market!

Also, going over this thread I realized that I haven't posted photos since I re-finished and patched the cracks in the stock. Not as shiny, but a more honest finish with the wood in better health, and none of the cracks have opened up (nor new ones formed) with 35 rounds through it so far. So here, with a used sling I was given by a lgs owner. I think he took pity on me for trying to get this one shooting again:

[Rapidrob]

I enjoy shooting my Dutch Rifles and carbine. The bores in my two as posted here are .266/7. The carbine bore is in very good condition. The rifles bore is sharp but dark. They both shoot well with the .268 FLAT base bullets. I've tried the .264 140-60 grain RNFB bullets with poor results. My close targets are 200 meters.
Many going to the Dutch colonies were converted to .303. They also shoot very well.

[WILCO]

This is an informative thread. Enjoyed learning.