Mannlicher-Schoenauer Identification Help

[Packrattusnongratus]

My '03 looks as if the wood grew around the metal. This seems to be another one built well. As I took the action out once and was scared I would do wrong, I put it back together and haven't done it again. I need to clean up the metal and wood to use some Renaissance Wax on almost everything. I like my double set triggers as I have shot them on the muzzleloader. I am still wanting to have installed a cocking piece peep sight. Maybe a taller front bead as well. Still have a chamber that's too tight. I will have the smith check the chamber as well as the rest of the gun. If you have trouble seeing a small and short front sight put a dot of white corrections fluid on it. It helps my nearly 70 year old eyes on quite a few of my guns. Thanks for all the information. Live from the Packrattusnongratus Compound.

[Axel E]

Taking a Mannlicher – Schoenauer apart can sometimes be a bit tricky, as yu have already learned. They were tightly inletted in the first place. Close to a century of wood shrinkage and maybe rust made them even tighter. I suppose you have already removed the bolt, the magazine floorplate, cradle and spool, the front sling swivel and the triggerguard. The nosecap will slide off to the front, after removing the little screw at it's bottom. I use a small brass punch, inserted into the screw hole at an angle, to tap it forward, off the muzzle. After removing both action screws, pry out the rear end of the triggerplate. I use a small screwdriver. Now comes the difficult part. Unlike most other bolt actions, the barreled action can not be "rocked" out of the stock at an angle. Because of the magazine walls it has to tbe lifted straight up out of the stock. I usually do it this way: I insert a small wedge, maybe a small screwdriver, between barrel and wood from the front. Just to give the foreend a bit of tension, about ¼" off the barrel. then I grip the rifle by barrel and freend and turn it upside down. Tapping the heel (top rear corner) of the butt on a lightly padded surface will make the action slide out of the stock. For me, this procedure worked even with a badly rusted into the stock action. If this does not work, the metal was probably glued into the stock by glass bedding without an release agent. If so, we are both witout luck.

[WindSurgeon]

Taking a Mannlicher – Schoenauer apart can sometimes be a bit tricky, as yu have already learned. They were tightly inletted in the first place. Close to a century of wood shrinkage and maybe rust made them even tighter. I suppose you have already removed the bolt, the magazine floorplate, cradle and spool, the front sling swivel and the triggerguard. The nosecap will slide off to the front, after removing the little screw at it's bottom. I use a small brass punch, inserted into the screw hole at an angle, to tap it forward, off the muzzle. After removing both action screws, pry out the rear end of the triggerplate. I use a small screwdriver. Now comes the difficult part. Unlike most other bolt actions, the barreled action can not be "rocked" out of the stock at an angle. Because of the magazine walls it has to tbe lifted straight up out of the stock. I usually do it this way: I insert a small wedge, maybe a small screwdriver, between barrel and wood from the front. Just to give the foreend a bit of tension, about ¼" off the barrel. then I grip the rifle by barrel and freend and turn it upside down. Tapping the heel (top rear corner) of the butt on a lightly padded surface will make the action slide out of the stock. For me, this procedure worked even with a badly rusted into the stock action. If this does not work, the metal was probably glued into the stock by glass bedding without an release agent. If so, we are both witout luck.

I am going to give this a try. Thank you!

I also picked up a few loose 5x57 Mauser rounds at a gun show yesterday. They are older with a long, round nosed bullet. They fit the rotary mag perfectly and feed perfectly! Headed to the range on Tuesday to give it a try with a few rounds and a sting to test at first.

[WindSurgeon]

So doing more research. Apparently the "7 m/m" on the barrel does not translate to 7 MilliMeter. It meant 7 Millimeter/Mauser. That is what they stamped the old barrels with in the U.S. in-particularly.

[Packrattusnongratus]

Did you follow Axel's advice on the fore end cap? My 6.5's end cap came off with s bit of elbow grease but no punch. I haven't taken the 9MM gun's front cap off yet. Packy

[WindSurgeon]

Take apart photos

I was able to get the gun apart. It looks like it has not been taken apart and cleaned in years, so I cleaned it gently and took some photos of some of the interesting bits. Axle's suggestion about tapping with a brass punch worked perfectly. It started to move and it just pulled off of the end. After that, a good pull on the receiver end strait up popped it loose. Grime/dirt everywhere. All the metal parts have matching serial numbers where I could find them.

Here are some picutures of the interesting parts you all were asking about.

First, the markings on the bottom of the barrel. I do not know what these mean so please chime in if you know or have theories. Perhaps a gunsmith?


Then there is the caliber. I have confirmed that it is a 7x57 Mauser. The 7 "m/m" does not stand for millimeter, it stands for "millimeter Mauser". I found that in a Winchester catalog from the 1930's so that correlates to a re-barrel perhaps in the United States at some point. I do not see any machining marks on the magazine spindle that would indicate that it was modified. I purchased a few vintage cartridges to ensure they cycled and they do effortlessly (like butter as they say).


Here are some photos of the trigger. It has a double trigger guard, with a single trigger bottom plate. It looks like there was some work done to the bottom plate, but I don't know enough to tell if this is custom or original or modified original.

[WindSurgeon]

More pics - continuation

I can only upload 5 pics per post, so continuing on with the trigger parts. This shows the inside of the bottom plate where some welding work was done.
trigplate2.jpg

The stock had a cut out on the left side. When I took the rifle apart, there is an additional metal plate there that I do not see in the schematics. Perhaps the remnants of a scope mount perhaps? Also, the insert/repair wood is coming loose so I'll need to add a bit of epoxy to keep it in place.

Side plate.jpgside stock.jpg

This rifle was refinished at some point in its life. The lettering is barely visible on the left side of the receiver from it being buffed before bluing. Interesting to me is that it looks so great on the right side, but not so much on the left. The stock is amazingly delicate. So its not a collector rifle, but a good barn find. Let me know what you guys think.

Cheers!

[Axel E]

Though letters in circles are frequent Steyr factory internal control marks, I have never seen such a "S in circle" mark on any Mannlicher or Mannlicher - Schoenauer. But such a "S in circle" was the mark of the American gunsmith R.F. Sedgley, Inc., Philadephia, PA. The Sedgley mark would explain the rather high quality of the work done on the rifle.
That sideplate and the wood insert obviusly cover the alterations for a former side mount.
The trigger plate is altered from a double set trigger one to accommodate a single one. The gunsmith who did the conversion (Sedgley?) used a slightly reshaped Mauser 98 trigger instead of an old style Mannlicher or M-S one. The photo shows, left to right, two views of a M-S ds triggerplate, top and bottom, an old style M-S single trigger and a Mauser M98 one.

[WindSurgeon]

The barrel proof mark looks like a "J" in a circle, with the "WO". You mentioned an S, I do not see. It would be great if Sedgley did the work. They made custom mausers and '03 sporters that are highly prized in the US. But I can't find any reference to the circle J or WO marks. Also, if Sedgley, it would put the work done a bit earlier, or perhaps it was done in a couple of stages. Barrel and side mount, then converted to the Lyman peep? Interesting mystery.