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Greek Model 1903 Mannlicher-Schoenauer FdH

TO MOST RIFLEMEN, the name Mann-licher-Schoenauer brings to mind a sleek little sporting rifle having a slim forend that extends to the muzzle of its short barrel. It is in the “elite” class of bolt-action sporting rifles, and it’s gained worldwide recognition and fame. Its popularity does not seem to decrease despite the great many other bolt-action rifles it has had to compete against since it was first introduced many years ago. It all started with the Greek Model 1903 M-S military rifle, for the M-S sporting rifle is basically a sporterized version of the military rifle.

The M-S action was developed in the Austrian Arms Factory at Steyr in 1900, the name deriving from those of Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher and Otto Schoenauer. Mannlicher, born in Mainz, Germany, in 1848, became one of the world’s leading military arms designers. He died in Austria in 1904. He is most noted for his development of the clip-loading magazine system, “straight-pull” rifle actions, and automatic rifles and pistols, for which he obtained many U.S. and foreign patents. Most military arms produced by the great Austrian Arms Factory, often called the Great Steyr Works, from the mid-1880s on, were of Mannlicher design. Otto Schoenauer, a native Austrian, was the director of the Austrian Arms Factory for a number of years. His main claim to fame is the rotary-type magazine used in the M-S rifle.

Although he was not the first inventor of the rotary-spool magazine system, Otto Schoenauer began working with that idea before 1885; it was first combined with a turnbolt 43-caliber rifle of Mannlicher design in 1887. A year later it was adapted to a Mannlicher straight-pull rifle. In the United States, Arthur Savage was working on his lever-action rifle fitted with a rotary-spool magazine, which he perfected by 1893 and on which he obtained patents. He became famous for his efforts which resulted in the Model 99 Savage rifle, which was made for many years.

The Schoenauer spool magazine, however, was not fully perfected until about 1900, when it was first successfully combined with a small-caliber turnbolt rifle. It is believed that Portugal obtained a few of the Model 1900 M-S military rifles. This rifle, with minor modifications, was adopted by Greece in 1903, and designated the Greek Model 1903 Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifle. It was produced in large numbers by the factory of which Schoenauer was the director. Mannlicher supplied most of the action designs.

At this point, I must backtrack a bit. In an earlier chapter I described the German Model 88 Commission action, designed by a group of men who borrowed some features from an earlier Mauser action and used the Mannlicher patented clip-loading single-column magazine system. Adopted by Germany in 1888, the only thing about this action which was “Mannlicher” was the magazine.

The Austrian Arms Factory in Steyr was one of the firms which contracted to make the M88 rifles for Germany. Because of the magazine, and because Mannlicher was also associated with the firm, and perhaps because they made some sporting rifles based on this action, the 88 rifles were often referred to as “Mannlicher” rifles.

When the Steyr factory developed the M-S rifle in 1900, they freely borrowed and copied the basic receiver and bolt features of the 88 action, fitting it with the Schoenauer rotary-spool magazine. This was an expedient thing to do, since it was a smooth and very reliable turnbolt system and they were already making the 88 rifle. No doubt Mannlicher had a hand in modifying and adapting the 88 receiver for the Schoenauer magazine, but designing it so it could be readily detached from the rifle for cleaning. He was also responsible for the several changes and improvements on the bolt. The basic action, nonetheless, was not his creation.

Regardless of the minor role that Mann-licher had in the development of the Model 1903 Greek rifle, that rifle, as well as all future rifles based on this action, were and are still known as “Mannlicher-Schoenauer” actions.

Greece adopted the M-S rifle in 1903, and it was to remain their principle military shoulder arm until after WWII. Compared to many other military bolt-action rifles, the M1903 and the later 1903/14 Greek rifles did not gain any spectacular recognition as military arms outside of Greece. The M-S action, however, gained worldwide acclaim and popularity when used in the Steyr-built sporting rifles. First made and introduced to European hunters in 1903 or 1904, its most distinctive feature was a very short barrel and a very slim forend that extended to the muzzle. It is this feature more than anything else that the name “Mannlicher” has been associated with, and to such an extent that even today any rifle similarly stocked is called a Mannlicher-stocked rifle.

There were two model designations and a carbine and rifle version of each designation of the Greek M-S military arm. The 1903 Greek rifle (marked STEYR 1903 on the receiver) is 43.3” overall, has a 28.5” barrel and weighs about 8.3 pounds. The 1903 Greek carbine is 39.4” overall, has a 19.7” barrel and weighs about 7.3 pounds. Both have a wooden handguard which extends from the receiver to the middle barrel band. The Model 1903/14 Greek rifle and carbine (marked STEYR 1903/14 on the receiver) adopted in 1914 are almost the same as the 1903s except that the handguard extended from the receiver to the upper barrel band. All are chambered for the 6.5 M-S cartridge and made so a bayonet can be attached to the muzzle.

The 1903 and 1903/14 Greek military rifles were rather late-comers on the U.S. surplus arms market, not generally offered for sale until about 1961. Carbines were first priced about $35 each, the rifles at about $30; M98 military Mausers were then selling for about the same prices. I thought the Greek M-S rifles a good value when compared with any other military surplus bolt-action rifle then being offered, except that their bores were neglected and usually dark. However, they apparently sold well, for after a year or so they were no longer advertised. Evidently, however, many of them must have had bores and/or stocks in such poor shape that, shortly after the rifles were first offered, separate actions were also made available. Moderately priced ($10 to $15) the actions also apparently sold well, for they too were soon off the market. At any rate, for a short time the amateur gunsmith had the opportunity to purchase a genuine Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifle or action, an opportunity which may never again be presented.

The Greek Mannlicher-Schoenauer Action

The receiver is a heavy one-piece steel forging machined to accept the barrel, bolt, magazine and other parts. The front end of the receiver is bored and threaded to accept the barrel shank. Inside the receiver ring, there is a collar against which the barrel abuts. This collar surrounds the bolt head except for a slot on the left side for the ejector. Underneath the round receiver ring is a small stud projection, which is tapped for the front receiver screw. It is not large enough to transfer adequately the recoil to the stock, but on military rifles, a separate recoil plate is inletted into the stock, just to the rear of the stud.

The top and right center of the receiver are cut out to gain access to the magazine opening. Much metal is left under the center of the receiver, enough metal for front and rear walls, and this is milled to accept the various magazine parts. The magazine well opening in the receiver is milled out on the left side of the receiver bottom to allow passage of the cartridges from the magazine into the chamber.

The inside of the receiver proper is precisely bored and milled out for the bolt and its locking lugs. Recesses with angled approaches, cut into the rear of the receiver ring, leave locking shoulders to engage locking lugs. The angled slope on the forward corner of each shoulder draws the bolt forward as the bolt is rotated closed. The receiver bridge is slotted to allow passage of the bolt handle, and the front of this slot is grooved to accept a magazine-charger clip. The rear of the receiver ends in a tang into which the rear receiver screw threads.

Left-side view of the Opened military Mannlicher-Schoenauer action.

Greek Model 1903 military Mannlicher-Schoenauer action.

The small one-piece bolt-stop is attached to the left side of the receiver bridge and pivots on a stud made integral with the receiver. A pin holds the bolt-stop on the stud, and a coil spring in the rear of the bolt-stop provides the tension. An extension on the front of the bolt-stop, projecting through a hole in the receiver wall into the locking lug raceway, halts the bolt in its rearward motion as it contacts the ejector and bolt locking lug.

The bolt has a separate non-rotating bolt head. Mortised into the right side of the bolt head and its stem is a one-piece spring extractor—no stronger or weaker than that of the 88 Commission action. Loosely mortised into the left side of the bolt head, so that it has some longitudinal movement, is the ejector. It is held in place by a small screw. The ejector extends back and overlaps the locking lug when the bolt handle is raised so that, on pulling the bolt back, the bolt-stop pushes the ejector forward to eject the cartridge or fired case before the bolt is halted, when the ejector contacts the locking lug. This arrangement, and the ejector itself, is much better than the ejector system in the 88 action. The outside front edge of the ejector is beveled to move the bolt-stop out of the way when the assembled bolt is inserted into the receiver.

The bolt-head face is not recessed for the cartridge head. Instead, the breeching system is so made that, when the bolt is locked closed, the flat face of the bolt head contacts the breech end of the barrel. The chamber is deep enough to let the cartridge head lie flush with the end of the barrel. Shallow grooves cut across the face of the barrel allow room for the ejector and extractor. A good arrangement, but it makes barrel fitting a bit more difficult than it is with the 88 action, which has a recessed bolt head.

The bolt body is drilled from the front to accept the firing pin, mainspring and bolt head. A small lug on the stem of the bolt head, and a matching longitudinal and circular groove inside the front of the bolt, hold these two parts together, allowing the bolt head to be removed and replaced when it is turned to a certain position. The dual-opposed locking lugs are on the extreme front end of the bolt body, both solid and quite large. The top front corner of the right (or bottom) locking lug is beveled to match a similar beveled surface left inside the locking-lug recess in the receiver ring. This provides the initial extraction camming power when the bolt handle is raised.

The front of the left locking lug has a circular groove cut across its face. The rear of the projection on the bolt-stop, which projects into the locking lug raceway, has a ridge to match the groove in the left locking lug. Unless the ejector is in place, or the bolt head and ejector are not assembled on the bolt, the bolt cannot be inserted into the receiver unless the bolt-stop is purposely depressed in doing so. Thus, the groove and hook arrangement on the locking lug and bolt-stop serves as a warning that, unless the bolt can be inserted into the receiver without manually depressing the bolt-stop, something is amiss. This could prevent an extremely dangerous situation from arising, since it is possible to fire the rifle with the bolt head missing.

The straight bolt handle, with its large hollow grasping ball, is an integral part of the bolt body. Also made integral with the bolt is the guide rib, which extends forward of, and becomes part of, the base or root of the bolt handle. This rib affords additional anchorage for the bolt handle, but also guides the bolt and prevents its binding. The rear of the rib, or the base of the bolt handle, is not high enough to contact the front of the receiver bridge, so apparently no effort was made to provide a positive safety lug arrangement. In the event the front locking lugs or receiver ring should fail, however, the bolt handle itself would prevent the bolt from being driven out of the receiver. The center of the guide rib is milled out to keep weight to a minimum.

The firing pin and mainspring are inserted through the front of the bolt, the mainspring being compressed over the firing pin stem between a shoulder on the front of the firing pin and a shoulder in the rear of the bolt body. The heavy cocking piece fits over the rear end of the firing pin, held there by the firing pin nut, which is secured to the firing pin with an interrupted lug arrangement. Flat surfaces on the rear of the firing pin, engaging a matching hole in the cocking piece, and the flattened front end of the firing pin, engaging a matched slot in the bolt head, prevent these parts from turning on the firing pin.

A cam projection on the cocking piece, matching a notch in the rear of the bolt body, cocks the firing mechanism when the bolt handle is lifted. This cocking action is easy because of the smoothness of the contacting metal surfaces. Since the firing pin nut, cocking piece, safety and safety spring are part of the firing mechanism, and are attached to the firing pin, lock time is a bit sluggish, but ignition is positive because of the weight of these parts.

The wing safety is positioned in a hole in the upper part of the cocking piece and into an extension of the cocking piece which extends forward into the slot in the receiver bridge. It is tensioned by a short coil spring which fits over the stem of the safety. This keeps it pushed back against the firing pin nut, which holds the safety in place, and which in turn prevents the firing pin nut from being turned unless the safety is pushed forward. When the action is cocked, swinging the safety up and to the right locks both bolt and cocking piece. This is accomplished by the end of the safety stem engaging in a notch in the end of the bolt. With the action uncocked (striker forward), the safety can be depressed and swung over to the right to lock the bolt, but this is to allow the bolt to be disassembled easily, rather than to lock the bolt in the action.

Main parts of the military M-S action, showing complete bolt assembly at top, receiver in the center, and detachable rotary magazine assembly at bottom.

One very small gas escape hole in the bolt is the only outlet should gas enter the firing pin hole. This hole, just forward of the mainspring shoulder on the firing pin, is exposed in the front of the receiver opening when the bolt is closed and locked.

The trigger assembly consists of trigger, trigger pin, sear, sear pin, sear lever, sear lever pin and sear lever spring, mounted under the receiver on the sear lever pin. The trigger has the usual two humps that provide the standard double-stage military pull.

The trigger guard bow, large and heavy, is held in place in the stock, along with the rear part of the receiver, by a tongue-and-groove arrangement with the receiver at the front, and by the rear receiver screw, which passes through the rear of the guard and stock, and threads into the receiver tang. The front of the receiver is held in the stock by a screw that runs through an escutcheon in the bottom of the stock.

Top view of the Greek military Mannlicher-Schoenauer action.

Issue military M-S trigger (right) can be modified and improved, as shown at left, by installing an adjustment screw on its upper end, plus bending and straightening the lower end.

The Schoenauer Magazine System

The most interesting feature of the Mannlicher-Schoenauer action is the box magazine, whose spring-tensioned rotary spool feeds cartridges into the path of the bolt.

The heart of the magazine is the spool, held in upright standards over a box-like trough, much like an old-fashioned chicken feeder. The spool has 5 shallow grooves that conform to the diameter and shape of the 6.5 M-S cartridges. The cartridges are not separated except for the first and last, which are divided by a wing that is actually the follower. A coil spring inside the spool provides the rotary power to feed the cartridges into the action. Bearings at the spring ends provide the means to anchor the spool to the standards and to keep the spool wound.

The floorplate is attached to the bottom of the box via a stud and spring clip, allowing the plate to rotate. The fore and aft magazine projecting walls under the receiver are milled out to accept the magazine box. Their inner ends are grooved for the ends of the floorplate so the magazine is locked in place when the floorplate is lengthwise with the action. A spring clip in the bottom of the magazine box, engaging a recess in the floorplate, locks the floorplate in its lengthwise position and, when depressed, allows it to be rotated.

The magazine well opening, in the left side of the receiver, slants slightly in that direction so that as the cartridges are fed into and out of the magazine, they are guided around the spool and magazine box. Circular cartridge guideways about ¼” wide, built into the front and rear of the magazine opening in the receiver, and in the magazine box, hold the cartridges in a circle against the spool, allowing the cartridges to move around without much friction.

To allow insertion of cartridges into the magazine and to prevent them from coming out again, a cartridge-stop was fitted into a milled cut in the underside of the right receiver wall. It is held in place, and pivots on, a screw through the front of the receiver wall. It is tensioned by a small coil spring. The rear part of the cartridge-stop projects through a hole near the rear of the right side of the magazine well opening, and a checkered projection protrudes through another opening in the top of the wall.

On loading a cartridge into the magazine and pressing it down with the thumb, the cartridge-stop is depressed as the cartridge moves over it; when thumb pressure is removed, the cartridge, forced up by the tension of the magazine spool, is halted by the bolt-stop so that only part of the cartridge projects in the path of the bolt. The magazine can be fully loaded by inserting one cartridge at a time, or loaded by stripping cartridges from a charger clip. The loaded magazine can be quickly emptied by merely pressing down on the checkered projection on the bolt-stop.

The Schoenauer magazine system is reliable in every way. It holds five cartridges in a space only slightly larger than needed for a staggered-column magazine. Feeding is positive and smooth, and there is only one path for the cartridges to take as they are fed into the chamber. The spool prevents cartridges from moving forward as the rifle recoils. This prevents bullet point mutilation. Finally, the magazine box and spool can be easily removed for cleaning.

The Schoenauer magazine has disadvantages. It is much more costly to make than a staggered-column type because every part of the system has to be made for the specific cartridge for which the rifle is chambered. Once so made, it is not readily adaptable to cartridges with different dimensions.

Takedown and Assembly

Make sure chamber and magazine are empty. To remove the bolt, raise the bolt handle and pull it back and out while depressing the bolt-stop. To disassemble the bolt, grasp the bolt body in one hand and, with the other, rotate the cocking piece ¼-turn counterclockwise so it is against the bolt; depress the safety and swing it to the right. Turn the firing pin nut ¼-turn counterclockwise and pull it free; swing the safety to the left, remove it from the cocking piece off the firing pin; now grasp bolt head firmly (remember it is under tension of the mainspring), turn it counterclockwise until the ejector is in line with the guide rib and ease it forward. This will release the firing pin and mainspring so they can be pulled forward out of the bolt. Remove the ejector by turning out its screw and sliding it forward. Remove the extractor by lifting its front end up with a screwdriver, then pull it forward. To avoid any chance of breaking the extractor, it should not be removed unless necessary. Reassemble in reverse order.

Using a bullet point or some other pointed tool, depress the floorplate latch spring through the front hole in the floorplate. Turn it about ¼-turn and pull out the magazine. Remove the magazine spool by depressing the rear spool bearing and lifting up the rear of the spool. Remove the bearings and magazine spring from the spool by rotating the front bearing counter-clockwise about -turn until it pops out and unwinds; the bearings and spring assembly can now be pulled out. It is best not to remove the spring bearings, although this can be done by lifting the hooked ends of the spring from each bearing. The spool spring, with bearings attached, is reassembled by inserting it into the spool and rotating it until the small bearing projects through the spool; now depress the large bearing and turn it about one full turn counter-clockwise until it falls into place and is locked into the spool. The assembled spool is fitted in place by inserting the large bearing into its slot in the magazine box and then depressing the rear bearing until it slips into place.