The Mannlicher M1893 (or M93) is a

bolt-action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

rifle that was the standard

service rifle A service rifle (or standard-issue rifle) is a rifle a military issues to regular infantry. In modern militaries, this is typically a versatile and rugged battle rifle, assault rifle, or carbine suitable for use in nearly all environments. Most ...

of the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

from 1893 to 1938. The rifle and its 1892 predecessor were the first repeating rifles to be widely issued in the Romanian military. It was later replaced by the

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

-designed

Vz. 24 The vz. 24 rifle is a bolt-action carbine designed and produced in Czechoslovakia from 1924 to 1942. It was developed from the German Mauser Gewehr 98 line, and features a very similar bolt design. The rifle was designed in Czechoslovakia shor ...

as the standard service rifle.

Development

Around the year 1890 the Romanian military started its search for a small bore,

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powderSmokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to gunpowder ("black powder"). The combustion products are mainly gaseous, compared to a ...

firearm to replace the breech-loading

single-shot Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded manually after every shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, then multi-barreled designs appeared, and eventually many ce ...

Peabody–Martini–Henry M1879. They turned to the nearby Österreichische Waffenfabriksgesellschaft in Steyr,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

where then-factory manager Otto Schönauer was modifying the German

Gewehr 1888 The Gewehr 88 (commonly called the Model 1888 commission rifle) was a late 19th-century German bolt-action rifle, adopted in 1888. The invention of smokeless powder in the late 19th century immediately rendered all of the large-bore black powd ...

rifle, the license on which ÖWG got as a compensation for

patent infringement Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may v ...

by the Komissiongewehr's designers on Ferdinand Mannlicher's ''

en-bloc clip A clip is a device that is used to store multiple rounds of ammunition together as a unit for insertion into the magazine or cylinder of a firearm. This speeds up the process by loading the firearm with several rounds at once, rather than one at a ...

'' feeding system. After Mannlicher and Schönauer removed all the obvious defects of the G88 caused by its hasty design (mainly fixed the double feeding problem by modifying bolt head geometry) and adapted the German modernization of the clip allowing the latter to be fed into the rifle regardless of whether the clip was turned up or down for a rimmed round, the Model 1892 rifle was ready for testing by the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

. After some minor improvements, the final variant, the M1893, chambered for the 6.5x53R round also called the "6.5x53.5mmR Romanian", was put into production. Unlike the Austrian-issue

Mannlicher M1895 The Mannlicher M1895 (german: link=no, Infanterie Repetier-Gewehr M.95, hu, Gyalogsági Ismétlő Puska M95; "Infantry Repeating-Rifle M95") is a straight pull bolt-action rifle, designed by Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher that used a refined ...

straight-pull Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

bolt-action rifle, the Romanian rifle had a conventional turn-bolt. The rifle's adoption caused some controversy, as despite the weapon's approval by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Carol I Carol I or Charles I of Romania (20 April 1839 – ), born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He w ...

, General Constantin Budișteanu derided the Austrian rifle as ''un baston'' ("a walking stick"), and the rifle's bore, smaller than the usual Mannlicher product, caused difficulties in finding compatible gunpowder. A carbine variant was also introduced, it was long and featured a bent bolt handle. It was used by cavalry and artillery units.

History

Around 195,000 of these rifles were manufactured in total. Some 120,000 rifles and 14,000 carbines were delivered to Romania up to 1914. Remaining assembled rifles were issued to units of the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

at the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the original caliber. Unassembled rifles were modified to accommodate the

8×50mmR Mannlicher The Austro-Hungarian 8×50mmR Mannlicher or 8×50mmR M93 is a service cartridge dating back to the days of semi-smokeless powder. It was later replaced by (and many weapons were rechambered for) the 8×56mmR cartridge. History M90 In appr ...

cartridge and issued to Austo-Hungarian troops. In the First World War many were also captured during the Romanian Campaign and used in the original caliber. The Romanian Mannlicher also saw some service in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

Spanish Republicans Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and captured by the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

. It is unknown how these rifles were obtained.

Portuguese-Mannlicher M1896

The

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kno ...

bought about 12,500 6.5mm Mannlicher rifles and carbines from Steyr, some in 1896, for the Navy and Cavalry, and the remainder in 1898 for the Artillery. These rifles carry "CI" crests for ''C''arlos ''I'' of Portugal. The 6.5x53R cartridges were first imported from Georg Roth and later made in Portugal. In 1946 a few hundred of the Portuguese Mannlichers were adapted to fire the 5.6mm calibre (.22 Rimfire), for training.

Ammunition

Sport and recreational shooters can still enjoy their Romanian surplus rifles. 6.5×53mmR: 6.5×53mmR caliber surplus WW2 and earlier ammunition is still available, but these are primarily corrosive in nature and rifles will require a thorough cleaning to reduce the development of rust. Due to very close dimensional relationships,

boxer-primed Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e. "case head"). Unlike rim ...

cartridge cases can be made by resizing and trimming

.303 British The .303 British (designated as the 303 British by the C.I.P. and SAAMI) or 7.7×56mmR, is a calibre rimmed rifle cartridge. The .303 inch bore diameter is measured between rifling lands as is the common practice in Europe which follows th ...

.30-40 Krag The .30-40 Krag (also known as .30 U.S. and .30 Army) was a cartridge developed in the early 1890s to provide the U.S. armed forces with a smokeless powder cartridge suited for use with modern small-bore repeating rifles to be selected in the 1 ...

(.30-40 US)https://bobp.cip-bobp.org/uploads/tdcc/tab-ii/30-40-krag-en.pdf brass, and

Fire forming The term fire forming in firearms refers to the process of thermomechanically reshaping a metallic cartridge case to optimally fit a new chamber by firing it within that chamber.Glenn Newick, "The Ultimate in Rifle Accuracy", Stroger Publishing C ...

the resulting altered brass cases in the 6.5x53R chamber. Alteration of the original chamber by re-chambering with a 6.5x57Rhttps://bobp.cip-bobp.org/uploads/tdcc/tab-ii/tabiical-en-page15.pdf chamber reamer has also been done, but the overall length of the original 6.5x53mmR Romanian cartridge has to be maintained by seating the projectile more deeply in order to fit the original magazine. It would also be a best practice to retain the upper C.I.P. 6.5x57mmR pressure limit of 3300 Bar to reduce any additional stress on these 80 to 125 year old rifles. 8×50mmR Mannlicher:

reloadable cartridge cases can be produced by reforming and trimming 8×56mmR Mannlicher or 7.62×54mmR Mosin–Nagant Russian brass. Standard .323" 8mm S-bullets are correct for this caliber though best results are obtained from open-base bullets that can expand to fit the .329" bore. RCBS offers both reforming and reloading dies. Rifles such as the Mannlicher M.95 using a stronger rotating-bolt design can be loaded to higher pressures.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 8×50mmR Mannlicher firearms Bolt-action rifles Rifles of Austria Rifles of Romania World War I Austro-Hungarian infantry weapons Mannlicher rifles Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1893 1893 in Romania Romania in World War I

Development

History

Portuguese-Mannlicher M1896

Ammunition

See also

References