Mannlicher Schoenaur

[Twud]

Please excuse the spelling I'm not familiar with these guns. Many years ago my father inherited a bunch of guns from my mothers uncle. He was a very serious skeet shooter and damn good at it. When he died my father inherited about a dozen guns, Brownings mostly, including 2 4 barrel sets. Dad kept some, some he sold. When he died the remnants came to me.
There was one rifle that I still have that no ones ever been able to identify. It has stamping that says Mannlicher Schoenaur. The left side of the action is stamped Oester Waffenfaber (I think that means made in Austria) The right side of the barrel is marked Griffin & Howe, New York with some unusual proof marks. The bolt handle is ivory, it has double set triggers, a trap door in the butt that has room for 3 rounds, a Monte Carlo cheek pc, a full length stock with sling swivels fore and aft. The scope is a 4 power Unertl with a cross wire reticle. It is about 14" and may have a 35MM objective lens. The mounts are made so that a spring pushes against a stop front and rear. It also has a setting to control the amount of travel the scope has from front to rear. The bore is mirror shiny. I'd guess the barrel is 26 inches.
The best part is it's chambered in 220 Swift. I'd say the overall condition is
95+ %. Oh, the action is like glass and the bolt is polished. I've never fired it as I assume there is some collector value. It's been in the vault for probably 30 years.
Tell me what I've got? I'm especially interested in the action.

Mark

 

[Float Pilot]

You have something I want,,, thats what you have...

 

[Jim Watson]

The action at least is a Mannlicher Schoenauer. That is, the bolt is of Mannlicher design and it has the rotary Schoenauer magazine.
Oesterreich Waffenfabrik (Austrian Weapons Factory) is the longtime gunmaker better known as Steyr.

So far, so good.
But I have never heard of and cannot find mention of a M.S. .220 Swift.
However, Griffin & Howe were a famous custom gunsmithing company of the 1920s on (After 1930 they were a subsidiary of Abercrombie and Fitch, then better known for sporting goods than yuppie fashion.) G&H could have, probably did, build a Swift on a M.S. action, or convert an existing rifle. I think the latter, a full stock Swift might not be as accurate as a half stock but they worked with what the customer brought in. Unertl made (makes) fine target scopes in the elaborate mounts you describe.

So you have kind of an oddity. It is surely of great quality and it would be quite valuable to the right person, but I don't know how many people there are who seriously interested in customized Mannlichers and/or in Griffin & Howe custom rifles.

 

[browningguy]

The G&H rifles are normally very well made, and there is a great deal of collector interest in them, especially in the condition you describe.

 

[jerkface11]

Sounds VERY nice to me.

 

[LeibstandarteAdH]

im sure all these guys know that there is a cartridge (not the 6.5 manlicher) that is sometimes called the 6.5 manlicher schneaur that is mighty similar to .220 swift enough so that the brass is interchangeable. its a rare enough cartridge to not be able to be identified by your run of the mill'ers which is sometimes trouble esp with the brass being so close to the 6.5 carcano and the .220 swift

 

[Jim Watson]

I must be a run of the miller because I have never heard of a 6.5 manlicher schneaur (or Mannlicher Schoenauer, either) that is interchangeable with .220 Swift. I think there might be some difficulty with casenecks for a .264" vs a .224" bullet, for one thing. I know Donnelly recommends making 6.5x54 (and 6.5x52 Italian) out of Swift brass but that is a considerable job, including turning off the Swift semi-rim, die forming, and trimming off a good deal of excess neck brass.

There are the 6.5x53R (rimmed) Dutch Mannlicher and the 6.5x54 Greek Mannlicher, which is the standard 6.5 Mannlicher Schoenauer 1903 sporting round, as well as the somewhat related 6.5x52 Italian Mannlicher Carcano. You say there is a fourth one to be confused with a Swift?

I figure G&H made it a Swift because it was the hottest round available and because that the Swift is near enough the 6.5 to be used to form it and it would fit the rotary magazine with a minimum of fuss. The Steyr-Schoenauer magazine is very smooth in operation but it must be made for the cartridge to be handled, it is not as flexible or as readily modified as the Mauser box.