The Steyr M95 - CGN compiled knowledge.

[NOTABIKER]

shot mine again a couple of weeks ago. except for the stiff bolt action i just do not understand why the Germans did not press more of them into front line service. did they see service on the eastern front by Romania, Bulgaria, If so a Russian capture Steyr would be a pretty cool find.

[Eddie1965]

Frontline Romanian troops were armed primarly with VZ-24s; I don't quite remeber how much Bulgarian troops were involved on the frontline of the eastren front.

[SnipeShot]

I have a 1917 steyr stutzen and it definetly has a kick with the 8x56R.I purchased some WW2 German ammo for the clip so it would hold 5 rounds. Definetly a fun gun. However ammo is expensive. I heard several years back that the ammo was dirt cheap but I missed that band wagon. I have also researched mine and it appears mine was issued to the German SS Police. My friends think I am crazy since I am jewish but it is a piece of history and I love old firearms. Now if I could get a Nagant Revolver for 129 but I missed that band wagon as well.

[DennisCA]

I have a 1917 steyr stutzen and it definetly has a kick with the 8x56R.I purchased some WW2 German ammo for the clip so it would hold 5 rounds. Definetly a fun gun. However ammo is expensive. I heard several years back that the ammo was dirt cheap but I missed that band wagon. I have also researched mine and it appears mine was issued to the German SS Police. My friends think I am crazy since I am jewish but it is a piece of history and I love old firearms. Now if I could get a Nagant Revolver for 129 but I missed that band wagon as well.

I'm certain that your not alone when it comes to missing the boat when it come to C&R firearms - misery loves company!

[NOTABIKER]

year

Like most of us i would like to know what year my M 95 S Steyr carbine was first made. Their is a lot of good info out their but it seems their is no way to tell. The one i have is stamped 3405M on the barrel-receiver. top of barrel marked W eagle 34. i know this is the 8-56r re chamber date not the original build date. one source says the last 2 digits of the Ser # ? . that makes no sense because that would only make it a 2 number Ser # + date ?. i guess i will just accept they made no new receivers after 1918 and move on. Does it help dating that no eagles are double stamped ? their is a STF stamped on the right side of the barrel at the wood line behind the rear sight. I have not found any mention of this mark ?

coolest darn carbine ever. our secret

[DennisCA]

NOTABIKER: "coolest darn carbine ever. our secret"

DAMN STRAIGHT!!

[GOEX FFF]

Like most of us i would like to know what year my M 95 S Steyr carbine was first made. Their is a lot of good info out their but it seems their is no way to tell. The one i have is stamped 3405M on the barrel-receiver. top of barrel marked W eagle 34. i know this is the 8-56r re chamber date not the original build date. one source says the last 2 digits of the Ser # ? . that makes no sense because that would only make it a 2 number Ser # + date ?. i guess i will just accept they made no new receivers after 1918 and move on. Does it help dating that no eagles are double stamped ? their is a STF stamped on the right side of the barrel at the wood line behind the rear sight. I have not found any mention of this mark ?

coolest darn carbine ever. our secret

If the original last two digits of date on the chamber ring has been scrubbed or stamped over to the point of being unrecognizable, there's no sure way to tell.
Besides, the date on the chamber ring is the year of that particular rifle's acceptance in to service. A rifle could have been made in say, at the end of 1916 and later accepted in 1917 and stamped as such. There is no sure way to date an M.95 by the serial either. Rifles, Stutzen and Karabiner were numbered from 0001-9999 and then a suffix block letter was added, A-Z...etc. It's anyones guess when the actual date of manufacture took place going by this, when the 9999th one was completed, staring over the serial numbers again and entered in to a new block letter. Block letters of X,Y,Z however, have all been observed on rifles which were assembled from left over war time manufactured parts, with receivers dated in the 1919-1920 time frame. It's merely a guesstimate at that point.

For instance, I have a matching, unissued, non import M.95 1918 Karabiner-Stutzen still in 8x50mmR with a serial of 20V.
And more than a few other non reworked 8x50mmR pieces with 1918 acceptance dates that are in the J and R blocks.

And THEN, you have Budapest and Steyr making them in different quantites at different times and different years where they would have rolled into a new block number, further creating a juggle between acceptance date and actual manufacture year that's hard to precisely pinpoint.

"Stf." which I recall is a post-WWI stamp, stands for "StaatsFabrik" (The State Arsenal Factory in Vienna, Austria). "Staats" meaning "State" and "Fabrik" meaning "Factory". I've seen the stamp on a few rifles but many more so on bayonets, where the StaatsFabrik reworked a number of bayonets and rifles after WWI.

[JimX45]

sling swivels for m95 long rifle

I need them...I can't find them.......HELP PLEASE!

[Jimja]

Last month I visited the Museum of Military History in Vienna, Austria. They have a really cool cross section of the M1895, I took a couple of photos, thought you guys might be interested in seeing them. I have a 1903 Bulgarian Contract, a Czechoslovakian refurb and an Austrian Long Rifle Myself (with a Bayo I got from Marcus von W.), great guns.

The rifle was behind glass, I tried to cut the reflection out. If anyone would like the full size photo let me know

[bplvr]

can someone post a picture of this 'spacer clip'? {from post #1}

"without the proper and necessary little spacer clip that keeps the bolt head from snapping back and retracting faster....."

[GOEX FFF]

can someone post a picture of this 'spacer clip'? {from post #1}

"without the proper and necessary little spacer clip that keeps the bolt head from snapping back and retracting faster....."

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?195291-STG-44-extractor-1866-Trapdoor-BR-T-99-parts-gun-M95-bolt-hold-open-clips

Or, you can just use the ole' dime trick for snappy bolt-heads. In which my reply in post #4 where I hinted -

"Which ironically, can be nullified for the mere cost of a dime"

[nick]

Genius! And all this time I've been using friction... with intermittent results.

[GOEX FFF]

Genius! And all this time I've been using friction... with intermittent results.

I remember one gun show many years ago I went to, I asked the seller if I could pull the bolt to do a further inspection on an original 8x50mmR M.95 KarabinerStuzen he had for sale. He told me "NO" because I would "never get the bolt back in" Being a staunch collector of the M.95 I knew the wiser and I told him I'd bet him a dime I could. He briefly looked at me funny and finally agreed but said that I would have to stay there all day until I got it back in.

Pulled the bolt, head snapped back, did my inspection, tossed in the dime and ran the bolt closed, purchased it, slung it over my shoulder, then placed the dime on the table in front of him and said have a nice day.

[Spartan301]

Nice!

I remember one gun show many years ago I went to, I asked the seller if I could pull the bolt to do a further inspection on an original 8x50mmR M.95 KarabinerStuzen he had for sale. He told me "NO" because I would "never get the bolt back in" Being a staunch collector of the M.95 I knew the wiser and I told him I'd bet him a dime I could. He briefly looked at me funny and finally agreed but said that I would have to stay there all day until I got it back in.

Pulled the bolt, head snapped back, did my inspection, tossed in the dime and ran the bolt closed, purchased it, slung it over my shoulder, then placed the dime on the table in front of him and said have a nice day.

Great story!

[$P-Ritch$]

Hey guys,

Lots of great info in this thread. I have a couple more questions for the experts. My dad has an old Steyr M95 in the back of his safe and it has no bayonet lug, is that typical for early produced rifles? Also, there are markings on the buttplate, but I have not seen any mention on any website as to what they mean, does anyone here have an idea? Finally, what is the value of a matching, non-converted, non-cut down rifle? All the ones I have seen on gun broker are 8x56R or sporterized.

Here's a bunch of pics of said rifle, the date stamp is super faded but it appears to be a "98" according to me and several other sets of eyes inspecting it.



Here is the butt plate, the plate is the smooth style with no ribs or indentations.



The date stamp



The missing bayonet lug, it is just a slip on metal band



Then the crown is all warped, but the rifling is still very strong inside the bore with no pitting.



Thanks for any info you all can offer. I think my dad got this gun from a guy way back in the day for a few bucks because he owed him money. That would be cool if it turned out to be some sort of rarity. Also, if it was in fact manufactured in 1898 it would be the oldest gun in his collection.