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Re: Didn't expect this!
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 12:07 am
by Tommygunn
Good stuff. What flavour M95 did you get, if you don't mind me asking, carbine/long rifle?
Re: Didn't expect this!
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:03 pm
by ukrifleman
I have a Bulgarian M95/34 carbine, which has been re-stocked, just the 2 side sling swivels (no sling swivel infill underneath).
I would rate the bore as excellent, bright, with sharp rifling and no pitting. The throat and crown look fine and when I stripped it to give it a good going over, I found the underside of the barrel and action covered in cosmolene.
When I figure out how to reduce the photo's, I will post some pictures.
To say that I am pleased with my purchase would be an understatement!
I only received my dies yesterday, so haven't had time to do any load development as yet.
ukrifleman.
Re: Didn't expect this!
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:27 pm
by Sandgroper
BTW, the /34 suffix is a misnomer - error made by a US importer, by all accounts - the converted carbines are M95/30.
http://www.hungariae.com/Mann95Bu.htm
Is it an actual Bulgarian rifle or a refurb? Mine was originally Austrian in manufacture.
Muzzle flash with WWII Bulgarian surplus ammo
Re: Didn't expect this!
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:22 am
by Tommygunn
The carbines look fun but I held out for a long rifle - got a Budapest made rifle which was originally part of the 1909 contract for the Bulgaran army - sadly it's also been refurbished and had the Bulgarian crest scrubbed
Re: Didn't expect this!
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 5:29 pm
by ukrifleman
Sandgroper wrote:BTW, the /34 suffix is a misnomer - error made by a US importer, by all accounts - the converted carbines are M95/30.
http://www.hungariae.com/Mann95Bu.htm
Is it an actual Bulgarian rifle or a refurb? Mine was originally Austrian in manufacture.
Muzzle flash with WWII Bulgarian surplus ammo
Muzzleflash.jpg
It is an Steyr M95, apparently converted to carbine length and re-stocked by the Bulgarians. It has the serial number stamped on the bolt, which I am told was not done by the Austrians.
I will try to post some up-loadable photos tomorrow.
ukrifleman.
Re: Didn't expect this!
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 5:47 pm
by Sandgroper
ukrifleman wrote:
It is an Steyr M95, apparently converted to carbine length and re-stocked by the Bulgarians. It has the serial number stamped on the bolt, which I am told was not done by the Austrians.
I will try to post some up-loadable photos tomorrow.
ukrifleman.
From the link I posted -
In 1934 Bulgaria adopted the M30 8x56R Austrian Cartridge, began acquiring M.95's from all over Europe (mainly from Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Finland), and begun manufacturing 8x56R ammunition.
Most of these rifles were rebuilt during 1930-1945 by both Austria and Bulgaria. Between 1938 and 1940 a large number of Austrian M90/30 weapons were transferred from the Austrian Army to Bulgaria on German order. By 1940 the Austrian forces were re-armed with German type weaponry.
The M.95 weapons rechambered for the M.30 S-Patrone with the "S" chamber marking were normally referred to as 'Pushka M95 S' or 'Karabina M95 S' or 'Kal. 8mm Mannlicher S'. According to some sources, in Bulgaria these rechambered Mannlichers were also referred to as 'Karabina Mannlicher obrazetz 1938g'. (g = godina, year). In 1939 Germany supplied Bulgaria with quantites of ex-Austrian Karabiner M.95/30 which were known in Bulgaria as the 'Karabina Mannlicher obrazetz 1939g'. If it has the Bulgarian Lion Crest, it is a 1938g. Crestless guns can be either.
Rebuilding was completed to either 8x56R Long Rifles or 8x56R (Police) Carbines, by shortening the barrel, shortening the stock and fitting side sling swivels only, filling in the underneath slot in the stock with a fitting wooden piece, and replacing the underneath front swivel in the band with a small washer. The rear sight was not changed for the long rifles, and the front sight blade was replaced with a very tall one, Most of these Carbines were used post-WW2 as "Internal Security" type weapons, or stored as part of Bulgaria's Strategic reserve. Some of these weapons were sold to Third World hot spots/countries (such as Mozambique) by Bulgaria during the 1970's.
Electropenciled serial numbers on the M95 bolts indicate Bulgarian refurbishing. Only the original Bulgarian Contract rifles & carbines had serialized bolts of all M95 guns. The serial was on the bolt stem, although some appeared on the bolt body.
Sounds like you've got a nice one there.
To reduce photos, I use picmonkey
http://www.picmonkey.com/
Re: Didn't expect this!
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 5:58 pm
by ukrifleman
Photos of my new toy posted at last! I scrounged some Lee 205gn.329 bullets from a shooting buddy and loaded 50 rounds with 23.5gn of Lovex DO60 to try.
I should be trying the rifle out next Monday
If they don't fly, I will look for a bigger bullet. I haven't bothered to slug the bore, preferring to try these bullets out first.
Judging by the condition of the bore, which I would rate as excellent, I hope these bullets will do the job.
ukrifleman]
Re: Didn't expect this!
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:13 pm
by Blu
Sandgroper,
There is actually a much easier way of doing it mate without going on the web. Windows comes with the Paint program, just go in there, bring up the photo you want to resize, choose resize from the menu, choose pixels, and type in the number size you want. On the forum I believe its 800x600 limit, so just type 800 into the top box and it will automatically enter the bottom box number to keep the photo the right size. Works great and only takes a minute or so.
Blu
Re: Didn't expect this!
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:14 pm
by Blu
ukrifleman, nice looking rifle meate, hope it shoots well for you.
Blu
Re: Didn't expect this!
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:20 pm
by ukrifleman
Thanks Blu (twice!)
My wife found a free download to compress the photos (JPEG Optimizer) which seems to work ok.
ukrifleman.