Jeffery’s .256 Mannlicher Rifles

MECHANICAL ENGINEER FERDINAND Ritter von Mannlicher joined the Austrian Arms Factory at STEYR around 1877 and produced a multitude of diverse designs until his death in 1904. It has been said that no other small arms inventor has matched his prolific originality and mechanical wizardry.

Everyone loves slim, lightweight little sporters

Of interest to us are two Steyr military bolt-action rifles designed by Von Mannlicher; firstly the model 1895 Dutch Mannlicher (a slight modification of the 1893 Romanian Mannlicher) chambered in 6.5x53R Mannlicher (160gr 6.5mm bullet at 2 430fps). It employed a turning bolt with dual locking lugs behind a separate bolt head and a unique sliding ejector. The removable bolt head afforded easy headspace adjustment and replacement if damaged. Its 5-round en-bloc clip fell out the bottom of the magazine after the last round was chambered.

The second is the model 1903 Greek military Mannlicher-Schönauer rifle. Otto Schönauer, working