Steyr 1900

[newbie 9mm]

Ok, saw one of these recently, really liked the feel of it, but I looked around and came up with like no info on this model. I saw 2 on the web, and that was it. Anyone know bout these??? They aren't even listed in 2 of the gun value books I came across, either. Thanks!!

[Gewehr98]

I've got two Steyr-Mannlichers, both military carbines, in 6.5x53R Dutch. Give us a better description and we can help you with the ID of the rifle. ;)

[newbie 9mm]

Ok. Lesse. Its a carbine length, front blade sight, rear notch sight adj for elev, labeled up to "20". Bolt action, straight bolt, with a very large ball on the end, prob around 1" in dia or so. To release the bolt, there is a little seesaw type lever at the back left rear of the receiver. Receive is stamped "steyr 1900" if you look on gunsamerica.com, there is a steyr 1900 on there. I didnt see any caliber markings on the barrel. wood stock, IIRC, it was pretty much full length, fixed mag box in front of the trigger guard.

[Gewehr98]

It's chambered in 6.5x53R Dutch, which came out just prior to the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schonauer rimless cartridge. The gun is overshadowed these days by the import of another Steyr-made model, the Austrian Model 1895 straight-pull, chambered in 8x56R. The Dutch Mannlicher ammo isn't the easiest to come by, but reloadable brass is out there. The bore is a true 6.5mm, so you can handload it the same as the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Shonauer, it's ballistic twin. I have two of these carbines, here's my cavalry model:

http://mauser98.com/m95steyrcavalry.jpg

Herre's a couple websites that discuss these obscure rifles and carbines:

http://www.geocities.com/swede94/dutch95.html

http://psmilitaria.50megs.com/cgi-bin/i/images/552.jpg

http://users2.ev1.net/~lertsman/rifle3.html

Randy Rick's Dutch Mannlicher page:

http://www.alltel.net/~randyric/rdutch.htm

Hope this helps!

[Marko Kloos]

I have a Steyr Mannlicher M1895 in 8x56R Hungarian...same rifle, different caliber. They are very light and handy, but the 8mm rifle has some pretty stout recoil. In addition, the ammo for mine is exclusively corrosive, and cannot be reloaded well due to the odd bullet size (.329 inch), and the Berdan primers. You also need Mannlicher en-bloc clips, which stay in the rifle as an integral part of the feed mechanism...much like a Garand. Without the clips, it's a single-shot rifle.

They're not very good rifles if you want to do a lot of shooting, since both 8x56R Hungarian and 6.5x53R Dutch are expensive and difficult to find. Other than that, they're neat, and working pieces of history.

gewehr98,

how do you know he doesn't have an M1895/34 in 8x56R instead? Just curious as to the differences between the models...I've never examined a Dutch Mannlicher up close.

[Gewehr98]

The Austrian M1895 in 8x50R and 8x56R is a straight-pull bolt action. The straight-pull 8x50R/8x56R guns have a different cocking piece on the bolt than the Dutch M95 6.5x53R turnbolt gun seen below and at the gunsamerica.com listing. The seesaw type lever he mentioned on the back left rear of the receiver is the bolt release latch - for the Dutch turnbolt gun. The Austrian M1895 straight-pull guns don't use this - to remove the bolt, one presses forward on the trigger while moving the bolt to the rear. Not quite the same rifle, but it wouldn't surprise me if both models were on the Steyr assembly lines at the same time. ;)

[Gewehr98]

There was a Steyr Model 1890 in 8x50R that was a turnbolt, a cute little thing that I'm sure was no fun in the recoil department. But they weren't imported in the numbers that the later straight-pull 1895's were.

[newbie 9mm]

Cool! Thanks for the info guys!!! Now, where can i buy some ammo for it, and the en bloc clips needed?

[Gewehr98]

Old Western Scrounger is one source, as is Buffalo Arms. (Both online on the Internet). The en-bloc clips show up here and there, I remember seeing a distributor in Shotgun News who had them, but I'll be darned if I remember who it was. I can probably spare a half-dozen if you can't find them elsewhere. ;)

[captsam54]

I have a Steyr 1900 sporterized, and am looking for info on it.. Thx..