Waidmannsheil
.400 member
Reged: 19/04/13
Posts: 2498
Loc: Melbourne Australia
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Gentlemen, I have once again been reading my copy of the 1910-11 Jeffery catalogue and on pages 51-52 there are two whole pages devoted to the original Mannlicher sporting rifles. At the top of page 51 there is a reasonably long and detailed explanation of the benefits and virtues of the 256 Mannlicher rifle, however the last line caught my eye this time and it reads as follows
"These rifles can be finished dead black all over so as not to frighten game by the reflection of the sun by polished steel parts."
My question is, has anybody ever seen a Jeffery rifle finished in "Dead Black" as opposed to the usual polished finish and if so does anybody know how it was produced. My guess is that the parts were either bead blasted or acid washed before cold rust blueing. Any information would be appreciated.
Matt.
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There is nothing wrong with vegetarian food, so long as there is meat with it.
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Waidmannsheil
.400 member
Reged: 19/04/13
Posts: 2498
Loc: Melbourne Australia
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Anybody ?
Matt.
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There is nothing wrong with vegetarian food, so long as there is meat with it.
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Rule303
.450 member
Reged: 05/07/09
Posts: 5197
Loc: Woodford Qld
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Matt I have not seen these rifles but they could have been finished in a Stove Black/Pot Belly Black. That is the coating used on wood burning stoves of the day. I have seen other rifles that were coated with this but from the 50's I believe.
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Waidmannsheil
.400 member
Reged: 19/04/13
Posts: 2498
Loc: Melbourne Australia
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Rule, sounds interesting and makes sense as this was a pretty common coating on a variety of items in that era.
Matt.
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There is nothing wrong with vegetarian food, so long as there is meat with it.
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kuduae
.400 member
Reged: 13/01/10
Posts: 1799
Loc: middle of Germany
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I read the 1910-11 W.J.Jeffery catalog a bit different. The British gunmakers bought in the M1892 Mannlichers from the Steyr factry as complete rifles from the military production line and sporterised them to varying degrees. So Jeffery's grades 4,5,6 and 6A even retained the straight grip military stock wood, merely shortened, reshaped, checkered and refinished to the different grades. The sentence on page 51 reads: " These rifles can be finished dead black ALL OVER "(emphasis mine). The Romanian and Portuguese military Mannlichers came from the factory with the bolts polished bright, unblued. So I understand Jeffery's remark this: Jeffery offered these rifles with a dull rust blue all over, including the formerly bright bolt assemblies.
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DarylS
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Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 27509
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
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Kuduae's thoughts mirror my own on this. No bright metal, all parts rust blued/blacked.
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Daryl
"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V
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Waidmannsheil
.400 member
Reged: 19/04/13
Posts: 2498
Loc: Melbourne Australia
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Axel, I would agree with you if we were talking about European or American retailed Mannlichers where polished bolts are quite common, however with British Mannlicher rifles polished bolts are decidedly uncommon to the point where I have not been able to find a single example. All mine have blued bolts (including a model with straight grip) as do yours (at least those that you have shown on NE) and a lengthy search on the internet has failed to show even one British Mannlicher with a polished bolt, they are always blued.
Therefore I believe that Jeffery was offering an actual dull finish for those that wanted no chance of reflection from the metal parts, and probably the stock as well.
There are numerous references in books written around that era where hunters talk about having asked for their rifle to be built with a dull oil finish on the stock to avoid reflection and I believe that Jeffery was taking that one step further and offering a dull finish on the metal work as well.
Matt.
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There is nothing wrong with vegetarian food, so long as there is meat with it.
Edited by Waidmannsheil (04/06/19 03:32 PM)
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cordite
.333 member
Reged: 29/01/07
Posts: 341
Loc: NW Montana
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I also have never seen a polished bolt. Here's my Jeffery, an old favorite.
[image]
[/image]
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Waidmannsheil
.400 member
Reged: 19/04/13
Posts: 2498
Loc: Melbourne Australia
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Very nice rifle especially with the full pistol grip. I like the Jeffery Mannlichers a lot.
Matt.
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There is nothing wrong with vegetarian food, so long as there is meat with it.
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