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The V with a crown above, in your photo, is a view mark from the London proof house between 1637 - 1955. From 1925 to 1955 the V seems to have been put inside a circle if it was a view mark for foreign arms. This suggests your rifle may have been proofed in the UK before 1925. After that date, they were also marked, "NOT ENGLISH MAKE", from 1925 to 1955. Yours seems to be marked NITRO PROOF, (it's a bit out of focus). Again this suggests pre 1925.

Looking at my take-down, identical to yours in the photo: there's an NPv visible above the stockline and another below it. The N and the P are sort of joined together, not separate letters. This Austrian mark was used for smokeless powder arms after 1899. So I'm surprized it's not there on your rifle.

Your rifle seems to be marked M1908 on the top of the receiver which is the model and also the introduction date for the 8x56 MS that this model was made for. If it's M19** anything else, let me know.

Mine is also marked C9,5 under the stock line meaning it's a 9,5x57 MS and I'd expect yours to be marked C8,0 or C8,2 or something like that. The number that I referred to previously, the proof date for Vienna, with the two digit year after a dot, is also below my stock line.

I'm not sure about the T & K. A few more photos would be handy. The type of crown, lion, letters etc, helps narrow things down. It's always possible that you've had a replacement stock at some time, but let's not assume just yet.

This model was called the "English Take Down" model, notwithstanding that it was made in Austria. The idea was, that you could take barrel and action from the stock and they'd still be a single unit, not prone to the sorts of wear that occurred when a barrel separated from the action on other take-down patents. The separated barrel and stock then fit inside a handy case and was ideal for transport, for instance, on a train if you were off to Scotland.

My full-stocked 8x56 MS, BTW, is quite accurate and easy to load for. I hope you can enjoy shooting yours one day. There is a US-based Mannlicher Collectors Association and they might be worth making contact with for help with ammo and etc.

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