Getting An M95 Mannlicher In 8x50R Running 1: The Initial Plan... 

Kid, Christmas, New Toy, No batteries.

"I have a rifle which I have no ammo for..." ""You know you're a gun nut when..."

That is a graceful looking gat...

Be careful if you do any more single-loading without clips! Placing cartridges in the chamber and then bolting forward can break the extractor on these.

PPU makes .330 diameter 208 grain spitzer bullets for use in the 8x56r. Presumably they would work in the 8x50r, if the bore slugs out at the same diameter.

You lucky person, those are my favorite rifles in the world. I've been looking all over for a long rifle M95, especially in the original cartridge. Looking forward to more.

Looking forward to this series. I've been on the hunt for an original M95 for several years now. Have a couple of the M95/30's in 8x56 but I WANT an original in 8x50. One day.

You sounds like you were on Horrible Histories at the beginning!

Good video

Very Nice, I own a Karabine in the Old 8x50R and my friend owns one in 8x56R the older caliber is softer the Spitzer from PPU really kicks bad ass. I own some surplus ammunition and self loaded too, works great! Reloaded from Nagant 7.62x54R. There is some information that you can directly shoot Nagant ammo (in imergency cases) and it works too, tried it! But No Precision! Location Vienna, Austria Steyr Fanns :-) Great Channel Greets

Please don't just place the brass in the chamber and close the bolt on it again. The extractors for the M95 are not designed to be able to 'lip over' the rim and need to either be fed from the Mannlicher Clip, or hand inserted under the extractor to prevent it from breaking. This is also why there are next to no M95 extractors on the market because so many people have broken them single feeding rifles when they couldn't source Mannlicher Clips.

nice! I cant wait!!!

So cool!

Lee does make custom molds as well. I am quite interested in seeing how it goes for you.

Been shooting my M95 in 8x50 for a couple decades. My brass is reformed from three donors: 8x56 Hun, 7.62x54 Rus and 45-70 US with some rim and base turning. The Russian brass works OK but is slightly undersized at the head. I use 8x50 Lebel dies to reform and neck resize. Feeding is highly dependent on OAL and slightly dependent on bullet shape -- I have best results with spitzers heavier than 200 grains. A prefer reduced charge of 4198 for 30-30 level ballistics and light recoil in my Stutzen.

Film EVERYTHING!! =)

Can you move ammo across schengen borders? 8x50mm is pretty plentiful in Austria if I remember correctly, and it can't take that long to get to Innsbruck

The 8x50mmR is a first generation smokeless powder cartridge. I have a suspicion it was designed by one who had knowledge of black powder cartridges. Therefore the rather heavy bullet and the low velocity (that's how BP cartridges worked). It was - what? - A.D. 1905 Germany figured out the properties and physics of smokeless powder to reduce bullet weight and increase velocity. Besides which, going from 11mm Mauser (380 something grain bullet at 1300-1400 fps) to 2000 fps was a screaming increase.

I have purchased multiple molds from accurate and they are top notch with botch craftsmanship, quality and customer service. I have a custom mold for my 1871 mauser that is actually a heeled design and another one that's a heeled design for 10.35 italian.

If you could have any new in cosmoline bolt action rifle with a case of ammo that was certain not to rim jam what would it be Mr. Bloke?

Lee makes a .329 mold that's intended for the M95, and it only costs $20 here in the US. I cast these for my M95s in 8x56R and they shoot very nicely. They turn out around 218 gr with gas check, and mine drop at .331-2 depending on the alloy used. Definitely an option worth exploring.

It's sad to say that there aren't any 8x50 mannlicher around. The 1895 mannlicher is such a beautiful rifle what made me not want to get one is the lack of available ammo. 8x56 is more common but also extremely limited, props to you for having a plan to compensate and try to make rounds

I want more on this rifle pretty please XD

I found one at a gun show year before last. Paid $130 for it. It's some kind of carbine, not sure what exact model. It needs work on the front sight and a new front barrel band/bayonet lug. I do have a set of dies for it. If yours slugs to .330 or so, Woodleigh makes bullets sized to .330. They are brutally expensive though.

Oohhh exciting fiddly engineeringy stuff :)

make your ammo, a tip - wax cast the bullet chamber to check bore diameter. Good video.

If you get one thats chambered in 8x56R, you can do pretty much the same thing you're going to do for this except you won't have to deal with trimming. Even though 7.62x54R cases are 2mm shorter, it's not a problem since the case headspaces on the rim and the bullet still sits in the case good and tight. There used to be a lot of surplus ammo but a bunch of twit collectors who have to buy anything with a swastika on it bought a bunch of it up with no gun to shoot it from. Prvi does make 8x56R but it's a buck a shot. Really ironic considering here stateside, you can get the short rifles in the $200-$300 range. The cool thing about why this trick works is that these cartridges are all related. They all link back to the original 8x52mmR Mannlicher as the origin cartridge. It's the parent cartridge of both the 8x50mmR and the 7.62x54R and the grandparent cartridge of the 8x56mmR. Word of warning if you get one chambered in 8x56mmR, get a slip on limbsaver rubber recoil pad because that round kicks like a son of a bitch.

I am about to experiment with cast loads about 204 gr however I ran into the issue that all 8x50r dies are no loner made and you can’t find them in the US. You have to get then custom made for 200 dollars. I can’t wait to put some reduced rounds out of my 1888/90 once I find some dies.

Hornady does a .338 250gr roundnose softpoint that is very similar in appearance to the original. Another chap on RU-vid uses these, pushed through a Lee bullet sizer at .331 of an inch. Seems to work for him.

Just a question, but couldn't you fire the 7.62x54R in the M95 because it's a sub-caliber round and have it fire-form the first time it's fired? Or does it need to be annealed as empty brass first in order to form properly in the M95?

Any chance to see a comparison with the Hungarian 35M?

For what it's worth Accurate Molds make some very fine products. I've commissioned molds from them for my VERY undersized Vetterli (Slugs at .316-3.24..!!) with a heeled bullet, and my Martini. They probably have an existing mold for this calibre :)

Since I have one of these long infantry M95s in the original 8x50R I was very curious to find out how you managed reloading. I've been looking for the follow-up videos that you promised. I have shot about 50-60 rounds of the 1936 Bulgarian vintage ammo for this and i saved the brass. Converting it to boxer primers is relatively easy, since the original Berdan primers have a slightly smaller diameter than modern boxer primers. I drill through the old primer and anvil with a #49 (0.073") drill bit and then pry out the old primer with a sharpened nail set. I use a 3/16" end mill to rough out the primer pocket to a depth of 0.125" and then finish off the prep with a Lyman primer pocket reaming tool. I also use spent 7.62x54 Russian cases that I trim down and then run through a full-length sizing die. I don't bother to fire-form them first. My biggest challenge is sourcing bullets. I thought that the Lyman 323378 mould would be ideal for this gun since the cast bullet looks almost exactly like those from the original vintage ammo. But I'm having trouble getting the load correct, and some on a different website have suggested that the cast bullets will not obturate in the bore (from 0.323" to the slugged bore dimension of 0.329") so I will get leakage. I'm having trouble understanding how a 0.323" steel-jacketed bullet (military round) will obturate but a lead one won't. Do you have any updates on shooting this rifle?

Damn I want a long rifle so damn bad

They still use 8x50r in India dont know if its possible to get ammo from India though

Nice outfit you got there bloke

Could give you some ppu 7.62x54r cases to make the brass for it if your import laws are okay with it

Is this project still on, really interesting rifle ?

ok, 2 months have gone by....what is the bore and groove diameter? Did you order a mold yet? How is the case prep coming?.....getting a bit itchy here....lmao

Nice stock

I have the opportunity to pick up one of these myself, but finding ammo? That's whats keeping me from pulling the trigger. Pun intended.

I always wondered how the 8×56R conversion was done on these. Seems like a quarter inch would be a bit of a "stretch".

use 8x56 ,its easier and it runns better in the guns also you can reduce the load or take a slower burning powder and a jacketed 8,30mm bullet like they used in the 8x56 i saw guys stripping appart PPU 8x56R, firing the primers, deprime it, aneal it, full lenght size it use a calculated amount of less of the 8x56 powder and the oiginal 8x56 bullet calculateing it you need some knowledge of inner ballistics en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_gas_law gas volume calculating by molar mass of powder ingreedients and burn rate/pressure buildup etc test some cartridges with some pressure measure barrel, some software and high pressure piezzo Measure the barrel dimensions precisely and maybe use some fine car polish and a brass brush if it has rust and dirt in the barrel but first try to get it out with brake cleaner and/or Amoniak solution like Ballistol Robla solo if it onley looks like rust Under all circumstances make a safety check by remotely firing it with 1 30% overpressure cartridge and 5 normal if it is not over pressure shot after CIP standarts if there are any so you dont get your bolt in your face if it has intercristalline steel corrosion or microcracks or cavitation corrosion in the barrel

Where is the rest of this series???????

You said "man licker"...hahahahhaha

I was offered an sporterized one but declined because of the caliber... I do not reload ammo so it was a waste of money for a bubba.

Austro-Hungarian weapons, delicious!

WARNING: Contains pedantry. Dear Bloke, I nearly choked on my crumpet when in the opening sequence you told us this was a rifle you "can't shoot yet". I always thought one "fires" a firearm and if one's aim is true one consequently "shoots" the target. Historically I believe the commands given to a firing squad were "Ready, Aim, Fire", not "Ready, Aim, Shoot" (I'm referring to the English speaking world and perhaps incorrectly including the USA). I realise from my Pocket Oxford Dictionary that it is not grammatically incorrect to say 'shoot the rifle' but I don't believe I have ever heard a native English speaker use that phrase, so I wonder have you been out in Switzerland too long, or keeping bad company (we've all see your video with Ian) or watching too much Larry Vickers?

Nothing like some oomph up the backside

Cast bullet territory. CNC Lathe? Sounds like the perfect rational to justify a fully equipped machine shop to the wife

Huntington's, in Orville California, has 205 grain .329 caliber bullets. I use them to load 8x56R ammo.

Give me your address, I have some rounds in the collection, no rifle for them.

it means Manly

I can understand why the Swiss hated their mannlichers. The bolts suck.