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Africa Queen

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Buying this rifle had been easy, then trouble started. The third-party intermediary that I had commissioned in SA for exporting the rifle and that I had paid upfront discovered first that as this rifle had never been registered by the SA Central Firearms Registry, it had no legal existence in SA and could therefore not be exported to France; that’s at least what I was told. All numerous amicable options that were subsequently tested for getting the rifle out of country failed and the situation never progressed until June 2017 when I hired a SA lawyer for resolving the issue with my local third-party intermediary; the situation was then miraculously unlocked by threat of legal action, all export clearances were granted and, in February 2018 the rifle was delivered to me in France, two years and half after having been bought!

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The long awaited Mannlicher Schoenauer then went for rejuvenation to the rifle maker the world envies to the French and who I will not name owing to his well-known modesty.

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Is this modest best in France gunmaker well known here on NE?


Good luck with your new rifle. Hope it serves you well.

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John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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Would you be so kind as to tell us about the high velocity load? I've never heard of it.

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those old 9.3x62 loads, different loads for different species perhaps?

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Africa Queen

I found by chance the below Mannlicher Schoenauer High Velocity model in cal. 9,3x62 in Pretoria (South Africa)...

This rifle was delivered with the Antinit steel barrel with full rib option, if we refer to the Stoeger 1939 catalog previously shared by Rothhammer.

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Indeed. A great find, fortunate purchase, and now with the finest restoration.

Here are relevant images from the '39 Stoeger. 'Antinit with rib' is the most expensive cost option on the list, three times the cost of 'takedown model extra':




On the topic of the African Queen, here are a couple of pix of Director John Huston with Mannlicher Schönauers that he purchased for use while making the film in Africa:



John Huston, with MS, flanked by some fella named Bogart and his young bride, 'Betty'.

Anjelica Huston has a vacation house and ranch near where I live. If I ever run across her, I'll ask if she has her Dad's rifles!

Here is a ballistics chart for Mausers that lists the 9.3X62 (from '39 Stoeger):



From the DWM chart:







Citizen of the Cherokee Nation

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Africa Queen

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Great stuff. Thanks.

I had a Belgian father-in-law that was there during the filming of The African Queen.

Peter Viertel's book about the filming is good, the Eastwood movie less so...but they did give Clint a real Mannlicher-Schoenauer (the rifle on the book cover looks like a Krag).





Edited by rpeck (17/07/19 12:49 PM)

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When the 9.3x62 first came out, according to John Taylor, the 286gr. bullets, both soft and solid were running 2,175fps from test rifles.
In about 1925 or so, the velocity was increased to 2,340fps or thereabouts, again, from test barrels.
Taylor noted, this higher velocity was not needed. I thought perhaps this loading is what MS was thinking about.

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I don't know where Taylor got his "2175 fps" muzzle velocity of the 286 gr bullet from the 9.3x62. The oldest numbers I found in German catalogs were 2230 fps (26" test barrel) and 2270 fps (28" test barrel). The ca. 1930 ICI / Kynoch catalog credited it with 2250 fps. In the 1930s this had increased to 2340 fps, a gain of merely 90 fps. Today, 9.3x62 286 gr factory loads are advertised at: Sellier & Bellot 2280 fps, Norma 2362 fps and PPU 2264 fps.

Rather, Taylor was thinking about the RWS high speed load with the 258 gr H-jacket at 2697 fps. On page 141 of his book he shows a picture of this load:

Due to his inability to handle metric numbers Taylor erred here in several ways. He did not note that the RWS H-jacket was lighter, 258 vs. 286 gr. The velocities he gives for both bullets are way too low. The RWS H-jacketed bullet was sort of a semi-partition. It featured a soft lead core front, separated from a hard one in the rear by a deep fold of the jacket. The front part was intended to expand and break up into shrapnels to increase damage inside soft skinned game, while the rear half did not deform and continued penetration. There were copper capped and plain lead nose versions available in other calibers, but in 9.3 mm it was offered in lead nose form only.

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Peter Viertel's book about the filming is good, the Eastwood movie less so...but they did give Clint a real Mannlicher-Schoenauer (the rifle on the book cover looks like a Krag).

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Citizen of the Cherokee Nation

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