xausa
(.400 member)
14/02/09 05:43 PM
Re: "new" mannlicher

I picked this up from Griffin & Howe last spring. It is a Greek military conversion, and has a commercial barrel chambered for the original 6.5X54 cartridge. The work was not done by G&H, it was just on consignment with them. The conversion was fairly well done, although I would have much preferred the bolt handle not to have been swept back so radically, if at all.

It had several issues, first of which was the scope, which was a Weaver "K" series, with a 3/4" tube, designed for .22 rifles. This was easily corrected by fitting a Unertl Hawk 4X scope with Redfield rings. Then there was the problem of the difficulty in closing the bolt, even on factory rounds.

Eventually I rented a set of 6.5X54 headspace gauges and a chambering reamer. As I suspected, the rifle had insufficient headspace, which I was than able to correct with the reamer. Probably the barrel was purchased pre-chambered and threaded and whoever fitted it didn't have access to a reamer to finish the job. One advantage of the new barrel is that it has a normal .264" groove diameter, unlike the usual M-S .268" dimension, which means I can use the whole range of .264" bullets with it.

Finally, I had a ramp and front sight mounted on the barrel, purely on aesthetic grounds. I will be picking it up from the gunsmith next week, and I have great expectations for improvement in accuracy. I'm not crazy about the Fajan stock, but I may be able to correct that somewhat, by removing the Monte Carlo and white spacers and refinishing and recheckering. I can't abide skip line checkering.

At any rate, Mike, here is one example of what can be done with a Greek military action, although the finished product leaves quite a bit to be desired at the moment. I would have to term it a work in progress.



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