The straight-pull bolt system of the Swiss Schmidt-Rubin and K31 rifles are well known, the M1895 rifle and carbine are perhaps not as well known. They are neither as precisely made, nor renowned for exceptional accuracy, as the Swiss rifles. But in their defense, they were made during the waning ages of the Hapsburg empire, mostly in time of war, and experienced hard use during WWI and beyond.
The
M95-30 Karabiner is very common, rechambered to
8x56mmR in the 1930s for Bulgaria and marked with a large "S" on the barrel for the Spitzer bullet cartridge that these now fired. They were imported in large numbers from Bulgaria in the 2000s, were generally mismatched, had electropenciled matching bolts (or not), with shellacked stocks usually having more then one serial number. They could be picked up for $89 at retail until about 2013 (from the extinct Southern Ohio Gun).
However, this is a rather rare
M95 Repetierkarabiner mit Stutzenring made at ŒWG in Steyr Austria in 1917. The faint Wn-17 acceptance mark on the barrel indicates its WWI manufacture date. What makes this rare, is that it is matching and was not converted from the original
8x50mmR chambering. Furthermore, it has no import mark and has a duffel cut (collectors term for stocks cut to fit in a duffel bag), virtually ensuring that this is a bringback, likely from WWI.
The receiver, barrel and stock has the entire serial number and letter block, "3211C", whereas the handguard has only the last two numbers of the serial number ("11", seen just below the back of the rear sight), all of which are correct. The two-lug internally rotating straight-pull bolts were not serialized. Since the bolt headspaces on the rim of the cartridge, simply having replaceable heads in three sizes, marked K, M (mine) and L for Kurz, Mittel und Lang (short, middle and long), was sufficient. Despite the exterior appearance with it's uniform brown patina, the bore has sharp and deep rifling.
The rear sight is calibrated from 300 to 2400 Schritt, where a Schritt is 0.75 meters. The leaf is flipped up to the vertical position for these ranges. A 500 Schritt V-notch battle sight is available with the leaf in the horizontal position.
Interesting mechanical features: --The Mannlicher magazine with an enbloc clip loading mechanism and an open bottom is a prominent feature of these, also found on French Lebels and Italian Carcanos.
--The safety lever (grooved tab) on the bolt handle can be applied in the uncocked or cocked position.
--Pushing the trigger forward depresses the bolt stop protruding from the rear of the action in the bolt raceway, allowing the bolt to be withdrawn.
--The bolt head should remain in the extended position (lugs horizontal) when withdrawn but often does not on the worn bolts. Withdrawing the bolt with a sharp continuous motion is recommended to keep it from getting stuck (caused by the bolt head rotating partially). If it does, pulling the cocking piece and rotating until it is completely unscrewed will relieve tension and allow the bolt to be removed. During reinstallation, the dime trick can be used, place a dime in the gap between the bolt head and the bolt body to keep the bolt head from rotating. Mine still works as it should.
I actually won this at an auction in the Fall of 2015 but had it out for new pictures yesterday. It was listed as missing bolt pieces. I could see from the pictures that it was only the cocking piece that was missing, and a quick search showed they were readily available from Numrich. My winning bid was $71 + $13 for the cocking piece
For more info:
http://www.hungariae.com/Mann95.htm