Mike_Bailey
(.400 member)
16/09/13 05:53 PM
Re: What is the slickest feeding bolt action rifle cartridge?

Tinker +1 see article below from Guns and shooting online, I agree with him

Mannlicher-Schoenauer bolt action

The Austrian Mannlicher-Schoenauer and the German Mauser 98 were the main competitors for the upscale, bolt action, hunting rifle market after the turn of the 20th Century. Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher was primarily responsible for the basic action design and Otto Schönauer was primarily responsible for the rotary drum, five-shot magazine design, hence the hyphenated name.

The M-S is a controlled cartridge feeding design with a fixed, receiver mounted ejector. The super-precisely made action uses a bolt with dual, opposed, front locking lugs and the bolt handle serves as a safety lug. The bolt rotation to open and close the action is 90 degrees. A split rear receiver ring guides the bolt handle as the bolt is withdrawn and this action, combined with the Schoenauer spool magazine that eliminates magazine follower drag on the underside of the bolt, makes the M-S the smoothest turn bolt design we have ever used. Cartridges in the Schoenauer rotary magazine never touch each other, feed in a straight line into the chamber and the magazine can be quickly recharged by means of stripper clips (a feature intended for military applications). The Mannlicher-Schoenauer's lock time is leisurely by modern standards and it is not the easiest rifle in the world on which to mount a telescopic sight, but nothing can compare to the silky operating feel of a Mannlicher-Schoenauer and no factory built rifle is better made.

The Mannlicher-Schoenauer went into mass production around 1903 and remained in production until 1971, by which time the rapidly rising cost of production had priced the "World's Greatest Rifle" out of the marketplace. Naturally, a rifle produced for that long underwent many minor revisions and was made in many calibers. Mannlicher-Schoenauer models include the 1903, 1905, 1908, 1910, 1924, Magnum Rifle, 1950, 1952, 1956-MC and 1961-MCA.


Mannlicher-Schoenauer 1903 Carbine. Photo courtesy of GunsInternational.com.
Mannlicher-Schoenauer sporting rifles were produced in conventional half stock rifle and full length stock carbine versions. The latter is known to this day as a "Mannlicher stock," regardless of company of manufacture. Ruger and CZ, for example, offer Mannlicher stocked, bolt action carbines. Another distinguishing design feature of M-S rifles was their "butter knife" bolt handle, variations of which are still used on Steyr/Mannlicher, T/C Icon and other bolt actions today.

A popular option on Mannlicher-Schoenauer hunting rifles was a double set trigger mechanism. This allows you to pull the rear trigger to "set" the front trigger for a very light release (measured in ounces!). The rifle could also be fired by simply pulling the (unset) front trigger in the normal manner.

Perhaps the most popular and best known of the unique Mannlicher calibers is the 6.5x54 M-S. This is one of the small bore calibers that WDM Bell used to shoot a number of elephants for their ivory tusks. The majority of Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifles, however, were sold in the same popular European and American calibers for which most bolt action rifles are chambered. These include, but are not limited to, such standards as the .243 Winchester, 6.5x55, .270 Winchester, 7x57, .30-06 and 8x57. Less frequently seen, but very appropriate American cartridges (especially for the M-S Carbine) include the .244/6mm Remington, .257 Roberts and .358 Winchester.



Contact Us NitroExpress.com

Powered by UBB.threads™ 6.5.5


Home | Ezine | Forums | Links | Contact


Copyright 2003 to 2011 - all rights reserved