Parts for Steyr M95M in 8mm Mauser

[Flyboy73]

I just picked up a Steyr M95M or AKA M95/24 rechambered in 8mm mauser. Only problam is Bubba cut down the down the stock and removed the handgauard. I would like to restore the gun, with proper stock and handguard. Looks like i will need the stock, handguard, middle band and front band.

Numerich has the stock in stock, but is out of the rest of parts. Anyone have a lead on where I can find the other parts? Tried Bulmilsurp.com, but all they have is the stock.

Thanks for any input.

Brion

 

[ftierson]

Good luck with finding the parts...

You might also think about adding some smelling salts to your shooting kit to wake you back up after it slaps the crap out of you when you fire it...

I've shot the 8x56mmR version and it kicks enough already. I can just image (and cringe when doing so) how this carbine in 8x57mm Mauser will feel...

OK. Sorry. Smartass comments over...

Again, I wish you the best of luck in tracking down the needed parts...

Forrest

 

[Flyboy73]

I don't think the recoil will be as bad as the M95 carbine. This has a barrel length of 23, which is about 4" longer. And i think the 8x56R has a little more punch the 8mm mauser.


Brion

 

[Old Time Hunter]

Try Tennessee Gun Parts....www.TPG.com

 

[Ash]

Heh, try firing my Carcano 38 carbine in 8mm Mauser...

Ash

 

[PTK]

Thanks for any input.

My input is this - don't fire that thing unless you use relatively low power 8mm Mauser rounds, and keep higher pressure rounds OUT OF IT. M95 rifles, when rechambered/rebarreled to a different caliber, are rather notorious for sending a bolt right through the shooter's head when the lugs break. Normal loads (Hornady loads, most handloads) for 8x56R run 27kPSI on average, with HOT loads still not breaking 30 kPSI. 8mm Mauser loads normally run around 32 kPSI, with 35 kPSI being the SAAMI max.

One of our shop rules is we'll only work on M95 rifles/carbines that are left in the original caliber and throughly checked over for cracked/overstressed locking lugs.

Please be careful with this thing.

 

[ftierson]

By the way, I agree with PTK about not firing any of the full-power 8mm Mauser ammo (that includes just about all of the surplus ammo) in one of the converted Steyr M.95 rifles/carbines...

Much of the surplus 8mm Mauser ammo generates pressures of over 50,000CUP (55,000-60,000PSI), and should not be fired in a rifle that was designed for ammo in the 35,000/38,000PSI range (like the Steyr M.95)...

If I'm remembering correctly, most of the domestic ammunition manufacturers (Winchester/Remington/Federal) load 8mm Mauser to around 35,000CUP (about 38,000PSI). However, many of the manufacturers have also produced higher powered 8mm Mauser ammo for M98 rifles in good condition, so you have to be very careful when selecting ammo for one of these rifles (or the M88 German Commission Rifles).

Handloading reduced power loads for these converted rifles is the way to go...

For what it's worth...

Forrest

 

[Vaarok]

You're thinking of Rosses with the "notorious for blowing the bolt back in the shooters' face". M-95s are very strong, and nobody at the Mannlicher Collectors Forum has ever heard of one going boom, and most of them shoot their M95Ms fairly regularly. They do have crappy gas-venting, though, and are notorious for breaking their extractors, which are nigh irreplaceable.

That said M-95M's kick like a sonofa. I sold mine after one round, though being a lefty and dealing with the wrist swivel had something to do with it.

Your handguard is made from the back half of a Yugo M-48 handguard and the front part of a M-95 handguard. The stock, as far as I know, is unique to the design. Bands are standard, and I think I've got a pair in my junk drawer if you need 'em.

 

[cracked butt]

I wouldn't worry too much about the 8x57 conversion, the germans knew what they were doing when it came to rifles. The lugs on a M95 bolt are at least as massive as those on a mauser 98....

 

[PTK]

Vaarok, cracked butt,

I have personally seen a blown M95 action. The locking lugs sheared off just above the surface of the bolt. The action was designed for ~30 kPSI max loads.

Do what you will, but I personally wouldn't shoot or own one in what I consider to be an extremely dangerous caliber for the action.

In the standard 8x56R, it is perfectly safe. There's a reason these rifles are usually left in that caliber.

 

[Ash]

The main reason they were left in original caliber is that they were a reserve weapon and used by police for the most part, in WWII. Ammo logistics were not a major deal for police, given the low numbers they were expected to fire. With machinery already in place to produce ammo and clips, it was much easier just to cut down long rifles and leave it at that. The expense of rechambering them just wasn't worth it.

Ash

 

[Flyboy73]

I am not sure if i am going to even fire the gun. Right now would like to fix bubba's handywork. Its an intresting addition to my collection.

These guns were rechambered in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, so they are not a bubba rechamber. I think mine came out of Yugo.

If they can not handle the high power round, what type of rounds were they firing out of them? Back when Bulgaria and Yugoslavia did the convertions, i would think they would have been using surplus rounds of the time.

Brion

 

[PTK]

Brion

Do what you will with the rifle, but the chamber pressure specifications for these two rounds are drastically different. Many countries rechambered arms in unsafe calibers, as did many companies.

 

[Vaarok]

Actually, the only practical reason for the 8x56R caliber in the M-95 rifle was the use of the older M-88, M-88-90, and M90 straight-pull wedgelocks, which were not well suited to high pressure ammunition, and the Austrians couldn't afford to scrap the obsolete rifles. Thus the 8x50R chambering in WW1, which was weak enough for the old actions.

Then, with the financial hardships following the war, rather than rebarrel the modern rifles, they simply reamed out the chambers and widened the bores from .323 to .329 to further recycle leftover arms.

The M95 Swiss Contract rifles were made in 7.5x55 and fared okay.

I agree, you probably don't want to put anything hotter than Remington or Winchester through a M-95M, but still, they're not likely to KB from prudent use.

 

[Never_Evil]

If possible, I would like to see more pictures of your M95M please.

 

[NCsmitty]

The model 95 Steyr is not designed for high pressure rounds. If the OP's rifle is indeed rechambered to 8x57 Mauser and not rebarreled, you're pushing a .323 bullet down a .329 barrel because that's what the 8x56R cartridge measures. Not conducive to accuracy.
I personally would not waste my time owning one of these, as there are too many good 98 style Mausers still available. Even a Mosin would be a much better choice.
The different distributors are having a tough time unloading these oddball Steyr rifles.

NCsmitty

 

[ArmedBear]

http://www.classicarms.us/

They're selling the whole guns for $65, some with small cracks in the stocks. Should be cheaper than parts.

Get some West System Epoxy -- good as new. I've fixed SxS and O/U shotguns with it.

 

[jerkface11]

If it still has the .329 bore I doubt pressure will be an issue.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

Steyr rifles aren't "oddball", NCSmitty; Steyr was one of the great gunmakers of Europe. The Austro-Hungarian Empire and a few others used the M95 and shorter/cutdown variants for decades. My 95/30 is a beaut, much like the one in the advert, in 99% condition, but Steyr rather than Budapest and without the crack. It set me back just $100. Have leather ammo pouches, cleaning kits, and tons of original 1930s-era ammunition on various original Austrian Imperial, Austrian Republic, Third Reich and other clips and in original boxes. Got those for $4 a box, the pouches and kits for $5 a set. It's a wonderful rifle; well-engineered, beautifully made, light and handy.

All that said, I don't think I'd buy, own or shoot a cartridge conversion like the one described by the OP. I've never owned a converted rifle. It's not just a matter of the chamber pressures. A rifle is a magnificent piece of precision engineering. Change something important, and all the designer's assumptions behind all of the other specifications for the other parts of the rifle and their functions go out the window. It may not blow up, but it will not be operating as designed.

 

[Flyboy73]

The M95M rifle was rebarreled for the 8x57 by the Yugoslavians, they also changed the sights and stock. I did write in the original post that it was rechambed to 8mm but that was a typo.

Although my stock was cut down, the 8x57 caliber is original to the gun.

Bulgaria and Greece also did the same conversation, calling it the M95/24

The gun also modified to accept the Mauser stripper clips, instead of the Mannlicher en bloc clip.

I am planning on putting a new stock, metal, and handguards to bring the gun back to its original condition.

m95m

Not sure on the pressure difference between the 8x56R and 8x57, but i would think them close.

Brion

 

[NCsmitty]

Duke of Doubt, there was no offense intended in using the word "oddball" except to denote the cartridge being an actual 8MM dimension with the bore being .328-329 and ammo being much harder to find and more expensive. It's not a problem if you reload and cast the bullets.
Most milsurp shooters do not want to deal with the Steyr's ammo short comings and ignore the availability.
I'm well aware of the fit and finish of the 95 Steyr rifles, and that quality continues today in their line of beautiful rifles that they offer.

It's just most people think of the 8x57 Mauser cartridge when 8MM is mentioned and many of us know that they are really 7.92MM or .323 dia, but still widely available and fairly cheap because of the millions of Mausers produced in that caliber.

NCsmitty