Steyr Mannlicher–Schönauer M1900 versus M1903

[Ovenpaa]

Can anyone tell me the differences between the Mannlicher–Schönauer M1900 and M1903 rifle actions for sporting use other than the former might have used the 6.5x53R as opposed to the 6.5x54 cartridge.

[Sandgroper]

This might be of some help - http://www.mannlicher.org/aboutmannlich ... cteristics

The MS M1900 appears to be a rare beast and from what I can find only the Greek military was interested in it as a design and from it the M1903 was born.

Militarily speaking only the Romanian (M1893) and Dutch (M1895) rifles used the 6.5x53R, but apparently it was quite popular as a sporting cartridge as the .256 Mannlicher.

[dromia]

The rimmed cartridges were popular in double rifles for sporting use.

[breacher]

As I understand it, the majority of sporterised Mannlichers were Romanian and Dutch service rifles.

[Ovenpaa]

Certainly the earlier Modell 1900 Sporter would appear to be of service origin however it has been suggested that some of the UK gun makers such as George Gibbs would purchase barrel actions only direct from Steyr.

The .256 Mannlicher listed on an FAC is quite a rare beast and I am led to believe there are only two listed on the Police national computer which is interesting as I think I know of both and only one of them is actually a .256 Mannlicher (6.5x53R) The other being a 6.5x54 currently in our armoury for a customer so I would assume there are many more simply described as the 6.5x53R.

Sandgroper - Many thanks for the link however I believe the data shown is not as well informed as it could be and the more I read about these rifles the more contradictions I come across..

[Sandgroper]

Certainly the earlier Modell 1900 Sporter would appear to be of service origin however it has been suggested that some of the UK gun makers such as George Gibbs would purchase barrel actions only direct from Steyr.

The .256 Mannlicher listed on an FAC is quite a rare beast and I am led to believe there are only two listed on the Police national computer which is interesting as I think I know of both and only one of them is actually a .256 Mannlicher (6.5x53R) The other being a 6.5x54 currently in our armoury for a customer so I would assume there are many more simply described as the 6.5x53R.

Sandgroper - Many thanks for the link however I believe the data shown is not as well informed as it could be and the more I read about these rifles the more contradictions I come across..

That link was the only one I could find that listed any differences between the two. None of my books listed a M1900 rifle, only the M1903 Greek service rifle. I will double check in case I overlooked a reference to it.

[Ovenpaa]

The one I am specifically interested in is the George Gibbs badged Model 1900 Sporting rifle and how it differs from the Model 1903, the more I read the more I suspect it is purely a barrel length thing for the original version so no difference for a Sporting rifle.

[Sandgroper]

Found a small reference to the M1900 as trials rifle for the Portuguese Military from which the M1903 was developed with minor changes - actions appear to be basically the same. I'm guessing that surplus or unused 1900 actions were sold off to various gun makers as the basis for high end sporting rifles, but it's only a guess.

[Ovenpaa]

A good guess I would say, I have a BSA sporter from the 1920's that utilised a No1Mk3 receiver complete with magazine cut off and without a trace of an acceptance mark or military stamp so it must have been hanging around on the shelf fir a good few years.

[DW58]

An RFD friend of mine (from whom I sourced my M1903 Take-down sporter) used to have a couple of Rimmed (presumably 6.5x53.5R) sporters, both were very similar to the later Mannlicher-Schönauer sporters in terms of configuration, stock etc., and both had conventional bolt handles each with larger-than-normal balls. One of these was definitely marked "Gibbs, Bristol" but I can't say for certain about the other.

When I was looking for a 6.5x54MS Mannlicher-Schönauer rifle for my own use, I was offered a choice of all three, but everything pointed to the 6.5x54mmMS rifle in terms of it being scoped, having seen very little use, take-down etc.,and even a cleaning rod in the butt - I bought this rifle and used it for a number of years, then regrettably I sold it circa 1995 for over three times what I paid for it and have regretted it ever since.