doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Missing Mannlicher Schoenauer Clip

Kutter and all, I have forwarded this, too, to my friend. Please keep the ideas coming.

Here's a few pics of a 1903 6.5M/S mag assembly side by side with a 1908 8x56M/S assembly. Factory Western brand 8x56M/S cartridges are used in the pics. You can see the slight difference in the machining of the carriers (5 each) on the rotor for the different calibers. The 8mm cartridge lays a bit nose up on the 1903 rotor. That causes it to jam when loading passed the first round in the rifle, though the 1903 assembly itself fits fine into the 1908 rifle as you can see in the last pic. Hope these help.
In the pics of the mag assemblys, the 6.5cal 1903 assembly is the one on the left. The one closeup of the cartridge necks and bullets shows the slight nose up angle of the 8mm round sitting on the 6.5cal rotor.

FWIW, I've converted two of these actions to other calibers & cartridges, and Frank de Haas deals with these conversions in his book on bolt actions.

My first conversion was of a Greek military to 257 Roberts. No rotor changes were performed but the conversion entailed extensive alteration and opening of the action's left-side interior wall and feed rail, for clearance of the larger cartridge head. I do not recommend using this Greek miltary receiver for anything other than the original 6.5 cartridge or one with a similarly-sized case head, but the 6.5 rotor itself may be OK for many cartridges without more than minimal alteration.

The second conversion was of a commercial 1908 8X56 carbine to 9X57 Mauser. The 8X56 barrel had a groove dia of 0.328", similar to many early 8mm rifles I've examined, and I had Bob Snapp rebore & rechamber it to 9X57 with no feeding or other alterations. It fed fine with no considerations other than limiting cartridge OAL. Wish I still had it...

Most of these 1908s I've seen had the claw mount bases installed but with no scope. It's not difficult to convert Redfield or Burris rings to claws, Tommy Bish details this alteration in one of his Digest Gunsmithing books. I've converted rings to claws for one 1908 M-S (see above) and one nice little Mauser also rebored to 9X57 Mauser by Snapp. Both were good performers with the converted rings during the few years that I owned & shot them, and since I repeatedly tested the sturdiness & repeatability of the systems, I guess everything was OK. Took a lotta time but it was worth it.
FWIW, regards, Joe

J.D. and Kutter, I hope it's ok for my friend in Belgium to contact you directly if he has a question. Your help has been greatly appreciated. Daryl

It's fine with me, just tell him to use the subject line descriptively so that I recognize him and don't remove his email with my spam key. I like to help but also screen for spam and have unwittingly eliminated emails before. I like the M-S rifles and any 1908 is well worth restoring IMO.
Regards, Joe

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OK with me also. Glad to help. Sent you a PM (don't think it went through) and an email with some info.

Thanks, to all of you who have generously helped. A project that seemed almost too tough, now appears doable with your help and some work. Hopefully I will be able to get some feedback and photos of the take down MS and a happy ending.