I have had this Mannlicher Schoenauer for several years now but had not yet posted it on the Forum, mainly by lack of available time as writing a presentable post always require some work. It took me many years to find it as I noticed that MS1905 were much rarer on the market than MS1903 and MS1908, or MS1910 to a lesser extent; maybe because they were produced in lesser numbers?

This MS 1905 Take Down is dated from 1922 and his therefore 98-year-old now; she is however in pink condition and should have either seen little action or have had really caring owners: apart from some superficial scratches on the stock’s polish the wood is really fine and the checkering is still crisp; the steel is neither pitted nor rusted nor drilled and retains most of its (original?) bluing; not any screw is butchered; the bore shines (groves shines but lands are a bit dark and would require good scrubbing); and all parts bear the same serial number, although I must confess two to three small ones such as the ejector on the bolt head.

She came to me with a removable pistol grip cap, a bolt-mounted Lyman diopter, apparently of the 1A type, and a cleaning rod of which I can’t tell whether it is a factory supplied model?

She sports the “Not English Make” marking, in addition to standard Austrian and British proof marks, which means that she was imported in the UK from 1925, when this marking became compulsory.

Apart from all that she is a standard MS 1905 Take Down of 110 cm / 43,3 inches length for a 57 cm / 22,5 inches long barrel.

I shoot Dorfner (Austria) Teilmantelgeschoss 16,5 grams / 255 grains ammunition but has not taken her hunting and do not plan doing so as I already have “dedicated” hunting rifles, kipplaufs mostly.

Louis