M1895 Steyr Carbine

7x57R 

  This is another rifle I have seen over and over at the OGCA show in Cleveland, Ohio. The owner had a table there. I saw it every show, was intrigued by it, and always looked at it. The asking price varied from show to show, from $375 to $450. The owner knew I was interested, and at the January 2000 show got tired of me pawing it for the umpteenth time. He asked me how much I had. I opened my wallet and showed him $250. He took it, and so did I.

This started out as a M95 Steyr military rifle in the 8x50R cartridge. A fellow collector from Luxembourg tells me this was a common sporting conversion in the years between the World Wars. I found the rifle well balanced and easy to shoulder.

On the pictures to the right, notice that the barrel has a step about 10 inches from the muzzle. Also notice the joint in the stock. At first thought you might assume that this is the typical 'duffle' cut, used by GIs returning home to fit 'liberated' guns home from the war. But, removing the buttstock shows a peg that fits inside the removed wood, making it obvious that this was made this way purposely.

The rear sight has two blades for range.   The checking is by no means an expert job, with some overruns and uneven areas. Still, the rifle handles nicely.

The downside? The rifle magazine uses ammo fed in an 'en-bloc' clip. Without any documentation or contact with the creating gunsmith, one is left to wonder how the new chambering would feed. The angle of the original ammo is different than the 7x57R chambering and it will take some experimenting with the 'en-bloc' clips to figure how/if it needs to be modified to ensure reliable feeding.

8x56R and 7x57R shown below.