Steyr M95 question - Czech or Bulgarian

[dfrak]

Hello, all.
Any Steyr M95 straight pull owners out there?

I picked up a beat up M95 carbine at a gun show the other day, but I am not quite sure what I have.

There is a crest on the receiver ring and I've posted a picutre of it as an attachment.

My first impression was that it's a Czech, but then I seem to remember that Bulgaria also used a lion crest.

So, what did I end up with, Bulgarian or Czech?

Thanks,
Dan

[JohnJak]

The Bulgarian M95 Mannlicher Stutzen

Manuf by Steyr/Budapest for Bulgaria


The Bulgarian M.95 Stutzens are identical to the AustroHungarian M.95 Stutzens with the exception of a Bulgarian crest (Lion inside a shield) on the receiver (instead of Steyr or Budapest). The left receiver wall is stamped with either "STEYR 190n" or "BUDAPEST 190n" indicating city of manufacture and year. These stutzen appear to have their own serial number block which does not include an alphabetic suffix.

May be converted to M95M in 8x57JS caliber, and loaded with a mauser stripper clip, rather than using the Mannlicher enbloc clip. These are likely Yugoslavian captured weapons.

[wombat12]

Very nice. You don't see the Bulgarian as often as the Austrian and Hungarian versions. For further reading:

http://www.sunblest.net/gun/Mann95Bu.htm

After looking at that site, I'd be curious exactly what you have. Could be a rare variant.

[dfrak]

Thank you both for the information.

As JohnJak mentioned, the left receiver wall is stamped with STEYR 1904. And the link mentioned the pinecone mark on the stock. I thought it was just some damage!

I'll definitely have to do some more research when I strip it down.

One thing I did notice: Whoever was in charge of the pinecone at the Bulgarian arsenal was pretty enthusiastic about his job.


Thanks again,
Dan

[pgaplayerless]

just an fyi for the future. Czech Bohemian lions have a double ended tails

[mini4m3]

S on the stamp is for Steyr, Buda's would have the B I believe

[wombat12]

S on the stamp is for Steyr, Buda's would have the B I believe

"S" stamp means it was converted from 8x50r to 8x56r. Graf has the ammo (Hornady in stock- out of stock on the Privi). Also the brass and bullets (.330 diameter, not .323) to reload.

[dfrak]

just an fyi for the future. Czech Bohemian lions have a double ended tails

I am glad you brought that up. I also picked up a full length rifle version of the M95 and as I was looking it over, I believe it has a couple of the small Czech lions on it, on the barrel and the receiver. I haven't time to inspect either of these very carefully and they really need to be stripped and cleaned.

They aren't very pretty, but I still think they are potentially good finds.

Dan

[dfrak]

...Graf has the ammo ...

I reload for this caliber and I also have some of the surplus ammo. The first time I shot one of these, I was really surpirsed at the power in these cartridges.

Dan

[wombat12]

I reload for this caliber and I also have some of the surplus ammo. The first time I shot one of these, I was really surpirsed at the power in these cartridges.
Dan

The power of the cartridge or the power of the recoil? That 205 gr bullet out of the short barrel and relatively light weight of the stutzen comes back with authority!