Steyer M95 Rifle,

[Four Fingers of Death]

My friend owes me for a rifle I sold him and he is offering a Steyer in excellent condition with a large bag of ammo, some in original packets, lots in stripper clips, etc.

I have a Ross and a K31 Swiss, sooooooooooo, I'm pretty well fixed for straight pulls, lol.

I have heard that the Steyers had a very weak extractor and that parts are a fond memory.

I should be able to sell off the ammo in original boxes to a collector/s and the loose clips as well after having a play and still be able to sell off the rifle with a small supply of ammo in chargers.

I am not interested if the extractors are a real problem though. I have always fancied one of these, but have more milsurp rifles than I can point a stick at and need toshed a few, not add to them, lol.

[JeffinNZ]

I'd like one also Mick. I have the charger clips in storage but that's as close as I have come. The trouble I have found is the corrosive ammo that was sold with these rifles at the time of import into NZ has wrecked many barrels.

[Donor8x56r]

As far as I know the only reason M95 can be blamed for weak extractor is the shooter who loads single rounds into the chamber.
M95s,Mausers,Carcanos and some other makes are meant to be fed from magazines only (in case of M95 from enbloc in magazine well)
Bottom line-make sure you have some well functioning enblocs and you will be just fine.

Much bigger problem with M95 Steyr is finding properly sized boolits of proper weight.
A lot of those rifles went thru a lot of very hard use and were often neglected ,as a result bore size and its condition vary a lot.It took me good 3 years before I found mold that works very well.

[Four Fingers of Death]

No trouble with clips, it comes with a shopping bag of ammo,all in enbloc clips (they are probably worth more than the gun. From memory the barrel was in pretty good shape.

I actually considered buying it when I was visiting my friend, who lives some 220miles away. I forgot my license that day and the owner who knows me well allowed me to inspect the gun and when I returned with the cash, he had stepped out for an emergency family problem and the young lady who didn't know me from a bar of soap stuck by the rules and said she couldn't let me handle the rifle without my license (which is the law here). That was ok, but she also wouldn't accept the money or a deposit on it, which was wrong, they were going to keep the rifle until I had a permit and it doesn't matter whoowns a gun here, but the person holding it or storing it must be licensed, etc. I had tohead home and left it at that. My friend ended up buying it, but has decided to continue collecting British Commonwealth weapons, so offered it to me.

Point is with this rambling, bumbling story, is that unless it had a good barrel, I would not have given it more than a passing glance.

Jim Allison at Cast Bullet Engineering here would be able to make me a mould if I slugged the bore/throat. I would try the Leemould first I suppose.

[dnepr]

Play with that steyr for a while but don,t judge it's accuracy based on mil slurp ammo , I have just toyed with hand loading ( threw together one load)for it and I am already beating mil slurp accuracy by a fair bit . I think you may decide to keep that one

[Four Fingers of Death]

I believe you can form brass by running 7.62x54 Russian brass through the FLS die. Supposed to come up 2mm short, but ok otherwise. I saw some Highland (Privi Partisan) brass for sale here recently. That would be a better bet.

I saw a pair of Grey Nomads yesterday, (Aussie name for retired people touring around the countryside). They had a small Jap truck towing an old, but neat caravan with a Ural outfit on the back of the truck. Nice way of doodling about the country.

[Oldeyes]

I believe that the extractor problem only applied to the M95M which was the (Yugo?) conversion to 8x57 Mauser round. There should be plenty of parts for the original 8x50R and 8x56R Steyrs, but I have not heard of any issues with these rimmed versions. I have shot my long rifle with surplus ammo and was not impressed.... it is another project on the back burner.
The action is nowhere as smooth as a Ross or Schmidt Rubin, by the way.

BTW, there is no such thing as too many milsurps, they are merely projects waiting in the wings :)

[JeffinNZ]

Hate to break the news Mick but Jim is winding down towards retirement. :-(

[Four Fingers of Death]

Hate to break the news Mick but Jim is winding down towards retirement. :-(

Bugger! I wonder if he is going to hand over the baton to another clever machinist?

I noticed on his site that he hasn't updated anything for yonks.

Thanks for the heads up, I will have to start deciding. Ranch Dog going out of business, now CBE. NOE, etc are excellent alternatives.

The Enfield and Commonwealth milsurp shooters will especially miss CBE.

[Beekeeper]

Mick,
I have 5 of the little shoulder breakers.
One has a lousy bore but the rest are pristine.
They definately are not as smooth as a rossi or smidt rubin but are a grea gun to shoot.
I use the old feller frankinstein boolit in mine and at 100 and 200 yards it will knock the steel target off its stand.
They are also awsome it dusk just to see the fireball.
I have one as a truck gun and haven't hurt it yet as they are about as rugged as you can get.

Don't know how much you are owed but they make a great addition to a collection


beekeeper

[sav300]

Hi Mick.
I also have a M95 steyr and I have fitted it with a scout style scope and mounts for old eyes.
I use the Lee 8x56r mold and am happy with the way it shoots.
I still have your snail mail addy so do you want some sent?
Lionel
ps try western firearms for 8x56r brass.
ps may trade for a couple of clips.

[keyhole]

Not sure if you are on track for the carbine or the full length rifle. I have had a rifle for 20+ years. Fired over 500 rds of old German military FMJ ammo. Recoil is pretty significant. It would have to be brutal in the carbine. There have been zero problems with the extractor, but have loaded the rifle almost exclusively using the 5 round clips. The stock is being repaired now since it developed a number of cracks, probably from the heavy recoil from the military ammo. Lately I have been casting the Lee bullet specifically made for the 8 X 56R round. It comes out of the mold about .330 using linotype. Size it .329 using the Lee sizer. Accuracy is at least as good as the military ammo with about 24 grains Accurate 5744. For me, "accurate" means it will stay inside the 9 ring of the military SR-1 target offhand at 100 yds., if I do my part. When I am having a good day most shots stay near or inside the 10 ring. It is getting hard to manage the sights for my 60+ year old eyes. Recoil is mild, which is a real plus for me.
In my experience anyway, the Lee mold and sizer die was a fairly cheap (about $40) way to get good boolits of the right diameter. Some people feel that the Lee mold throws boolits too small in diameter but that has not been my experience for my rifle.
It always draws attention at the range due to its uniqueness.

[Beekeeper]

Sav300,
What scout mount did you get to use on the M95?
Like you old eyes and shaky hands get in the way sometimes.
Have thought about the scout mount idea a couple of times.


OOPS : sorry Mick for hijacking you thread.


beekeeper

[Beekeeper]

Keyhole ,
have you tried the Lee 338 mold or the old feller frankenstein boolit in yours yet?
Tried the 329 Lee in my carbines and didn't get the results I get with the .338 boolit.
Might want to give them a try in yours.


beekeeper

[Four Fingers of Death]

No Prob Beekeeper, I like the Daisy Duck car in your avitar.

What is this Old Fella Frankenstien Boolit?

Sav300, the gun is at Cessnock, so I will pop in, way overdue for a visit.

If I do get it, I will have a good look at the stock and fill any cracks with epoxy or something similar.

[Wayne Smith]

Do a search for Oldfeller Frankenstein here and you will find the whole story. Probably find it with just "Frankenstein", come to think of it. Internal diameters of those rifles are somewhat adventurous. Slug your barrel. If you like horror stories, do a pound slug of the chamber. Many of the barrels are on the high side of .330".

I think somebody is making the Oldfeller Frankenstein again, I just don't remember who. If you do a search on the Steyr 95 you will probably find it. It is about as close to ideal for these rifles as you are likely to find.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I will do a search for it, thanks.

It occurs to me that one if these with a properly fitting boolit would be one of the best milsurp calibers to hunt with.

Beekeeper, we have a guy in my town who was always fascinated with bees and had beehives from a very young age. He grew up to become a full time aparist. His name is Brian Tobin. He has always been known as Bee Tobin. :)

[dnepr]

I believe you can form brass by running 7.62x54 Russian brass through the FLS die. Supposed to come up 2mm short, but ok otherwise. I saw some Highland (Privi Partisan) brass for sale here recently. That would be a better bet.

I saw a pair of Grey Nomads yesterday, (Aussie name for retired people touring around the countryside). They had a small Jap truck towing an old, but neat caravan with a Ural outfit on the back of the truck. Nice way of doodling about the country.

Good to hear someone else enjoying Russian iron of the 3 wheeled variety , Frankencycle ( my dnepr ) is still running strong , I will have to try that with a 7.62x54 and see how it works , but for now brass and ammo and proper sized j-words are plentiful in Canada so I am saving 7.62x54 brass for the mosin

[Four Fingers of Death]

I am quiet fond of the Russian bikes. I bought a new Dnepr in the early 70s. I can only afford one bike now and my BMW. R1150GS does it all.

[sav300]

Sav300,
What scout mount did you get to use on the M95?
Like you old eyes and shaky hands get in the way sometimes.
Have thought about the scout mount idea a couple of times.


OOPS : sorry Mick for hijacking you thread.


beekeeper

Hi beekeeper,the scope mount is from S&K insta mount.Remove rear sight and way u go.I have found with the scout scope on mine.I have a hard time using the magazine clip.

[sav300]

Mick,you and the wife are welcome anytime.Can stay overnight if need to.

[Beekeeper]

In the group buy section someone is trying to set up a group buy with NOE for the Old Feller Frankenstein Boolit.
Don't know who but remember it being bandied about.
The Mold I have was one of the BRP molds before Bruce got out of the business and it is a treat to use.


beekeeper

[keyhole]

Keyhole ,
have you tried the Lee 338 mold or the old feller frankenstein boolit in yours yet?
Tried the 329 Lee in my carbines and didn't get the results I get with the .338 boolit.
Might want to give them a try in yours.


beekeeper

_______________
Thanks Beekeeper,

I am aware of these boolits and have read some threads about them. It is certainly just blind luck on my part, but the Lee boolit coming out of my 8 X 56R mold gives me very satisfactory results. For now, I will just keep using that boolit. Thanks for the suggestions, though.
The guy working on my stock has found a couple more cracks that I did not see, apparently. That military surplus ammo really beat the heck out of the stock. Once repaired, it will only see moderate cast reloads as long as I have it.
Interesting comments about the sidecars. I rode in a Dnepr outfit once. It was a lot of fun. I ended up getting a BMW K100RT / EML outfit. Rode it for 10 years with my wife and Doberman. It was great fun and we have wonderful memories of that time.

[Beekeeper]

keyhole,
If it is decided that your stock cannot be fixed or doesn't come out right I have a stock I will sell you.
Won't ask much " just the wife, kids, and your car"
I have 5 of the stuzen carbines ( I think they are called), and am going to make annother into a sporter.
Let me know if you need it.
No hurry it isn't gonna go anywhere!


beekeeper

[keyhole]

Thanks Beekeeper,

The guy fixing the stock seems to know what he is doing but if there is a problem I will keep your offer in mind. Mine is the rifle not the carbine. So if something goes haywire with mine, I will need a rifle stock.

Thanks again

Keyhole

[nanuk]

In the group buy section someone is trying to set up a group buy with NOE for the Old Feller Frankenstein Boolit.
Don't know who but remember it being bandied about.
The Mold I have was one of the BRP molds before Bruce got out of the business and it is a treat to use.


beekeeper


Beekeeper: I think This Mihec Oldfeller frankenstien Boolit (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=145207) is the one you are refering to....

[Four Fingers of Death]

Thanks, Nanuk. I'll check it out.

I think I am painting myself into a corner with this rifle and will just have to get it, even though I have three big safes full of rifles and I can barely get the doors closed on them.

[Beekeeper]

nanuk,
That is the boolit but the BRP one that I have is not a hollow point.
Mine works great to 200 yards which is as far as my old eyes will let me go with iron sights.
Am thinking of either a peep sight or scope.

Don't know about the hollow point or how it would work in the Steyr carbine.


beekeeper

[TreeKiller]

I will let you know I have a Mihec HP on Order in the group buy and have the BRP mold now. Great boolit to shoot in the M95

Dan

[Four Fingers of Death]

My mate offered to gove me the rifle, along with all of the surplus ammo and clips in exchange for the old 92' winchester that I gave him which cost me $200. It has a reasonable bore, metalwork is ok, but virtually in the white and wood is a bit shrunked back, has a few splits and is in poor condition, my mate does great restorations including rust blueing, so he's real happy with it.

I said he could have it for $250 initially and I am about to give him a set of 45Colt Dies and some brass (I have enough for two lifetimes, lol) in exchange. I am pretty sure I have a spare set of 45Colt dies, if not I will reward myself with a nice pair of Reddings or RCBS Cowboy dies.

IN fact,if I reloaded all of my 45Colt cases up, I wouldn't need to load anymore for the next few years, lol.

I'm real pleased with the deal.

[Wayne Smith]

Have fun with it. Mine were cheap enough that I don't need to put them in a safe! There is a thread about using 872 slow powder with a kicker in these, I did that and chronoed my load at 2300fps! That's with the BRP Oldfeller Frankenstein boolit. I need to do some more development with this, but with that or a similar load and the boolit cast soft point this is a combination to take hunting. I picked up The Perfessor's reloading press adapter for using H&I dies as push through just to size those boolits with a pure lead nose. Who needs a HP version?

[KCSO]

I have had several M95 Carbines and have yet to break an extractor. I have a 95 converted to 410 that has been loaded single shot for over 5 years now and the slightly smaller rim of the 410 has never given a problem. I cast a 338 bullet and size it down to 332 and load it in Privi brass and get excellent accuracy and a whale of a lot less recoil than the 200 grain jacketed factory rounds.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Hi beekeeper,the scope mount is from S&K insta mount.Remove rear sight and way u go.I have found with the scout scope on mine.I have a hard time using the magazine clip.

Sav300, sorry I didn't have time to visit last week when I was up there. You might be better off with a red dot sight, smaller and won't foul the clips hopefully.

I got the rifle and took it to the range the other day! Yep! Them 1938 Nazi crackers sureeeee do boot! I shot off all of the ones that had less than perfect cases, sort of feel the the rounds in good nick are a bit too rare to just plink with. Accuracy wasn't stellar, but definetly minute of Allied soldier. The sights are a tad fine, I might attack the rear groove with a file and build up the foresight. The rifle is in excellent condition and the bore is brilliant. It has a life =time of cast boolit shooting left.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/20121212_Steyer958x56Hungarian9_zps389c13e6.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/20121212_Steyer958x56Hungarian4_zpsf2f7187f.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/20121212_Steyer958x56Hungarian2_zpsfe17b3dd.jpg

A few more pics here;

http://s89.beta.photobucket.com/user/4fingermick/library/?

The new photobucket layout is a pain, I didn't notice that it has dumped the photos on my front page, instead of the rifles album. I'm too pooped to correct it now. There are a lot more pics of other guns if you have a look through the albums.

Brass is a bit iffy at the moment,but Western Firearms think they have some and are having a look. Failing that, I have 100 new PP Russian cases and will share them with the Mosin Nagant.

[sav300]

Hi Mick.np mate.Had a short trip to cessnock and picked up the clips.Thanks.I think I will move the scope a tad forward to give me some clearance.I have no problem with dropping the rounds into the magazine well and chamber then that way.