The Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifle dates to 1903 when the 6.5x54mm cartridge and both military and civilian rifles to shoot it were introduced. Austria and Greece adopted the 1903 military rifle and the 6.5×54 cartridge that same year.
The 1903 Mannlicher rifles and carbines were the last designs of Ferdinand Ritter Von Mannlicher, who died the next year, and his friend Otto Schönauer who designed the exceptional rotary drum magazine intrinsic to all Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifles. Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifles and carbines were exclusively manufactured at Oesterreichische Waffenfabrik Gesellschaft Steyr in Steyr, Austria.
The Model 1903 rifle as the first of the famous M-S Rifles and Carbines and it established the basic design of all the models that were to follow. The rifles were equipped with flat “butter knife” bolt handles and rotary magazines.
This rifle is a custom model with a 22” barrel chambered in 7.5×57 Mauser, apparently built by Max Fischer of Berlin. The rifle features a “butter knife” bolt handle, German Pecar Champion 4x Scope, and a set trigger which provides an astoundingly light and crisp 1/4 pound trigger pull.
The rifle is in about Very Good overall condition with about 80% of its finish remaining.
