MS in 280 -from Darwinmauser

[eljefe]

Hello all ,
I could not wait to show off my Mannlicher Schoenauer ,this rifle is in the process of being rebuilt at the moment , the stock work should be complete by the end of January , it still requires final finishing and checkering .It will then have to be reblued with the slow rust bluing method.

The rifle was built in 1958 as a model MC in 280 Remington for the American market, it was imported there by Stoeger's where it had a scope mount fitted and subsequently made it's way to Australia. It remained in the original owners hands until he passed away some 3 years ago .I bought the rifle over the internet through one of the gun trading web sites and had it shipped to me via Australia Post , it's all good ,or so you would think . Despite 5 layers of bubble wrap Australia Post broke the stock ,they then refused my damage claim because of insufficient packaging !!

So, I have a MS with a broken stock, I checked all the known quality stockmakers in Australia as to how much work they had on and what sort of time frame could be expected ....about 5 years was the average,I also looked at the American stock makers such as Richards microfit and Boyds but none offered what I wanted ,finally as I was reading a thread about someone else's custom rifle on Australian Hunting Net a new name popped up ,He is Gordon C ,he has posted on IFG and other forums as Juglansregia ,I contacted Gordon and was pleasantly surprised ,6 months to carve and finish the stock ,Gordon also welded up the holes from the scope mount which i had removed, and replaced the bolt handle as the swept back design is impractical . He is a true Stock Maker / Gunsmith.

The first problem was finding a suitable stock blank , not so easy with a full length Mannlicher , most blanks are cut at 33 - 36 inches , we needed 41, eventually we found a very nice piece of New Zealand Walnut with just the right amount of color and figure for my taste , It is also not as dense as the Australian grown Walnut which made it perfect for this project , Mannlichers being a light weight rifle are very nice to carry when out hunting on foot.
There are a lot of decisions to be made when making a new stock , length of pull , the amount of cast , what kind of butt plate and grip cap , the style and size of the cheek piece , what style and pattern for the checkering and finally what finish . Decisions ,decisions, Gordon must be a very patient man! he guided me through most of these decisions and with the help of photo's borrowed from the forums to illustrate what I liked or wanted the rifle has taken it's final form . hope you like it .


cheers

MS-280-d.jpg

MS-280-c.jpg

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MS-280-a.jpg

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[darwinmauser]

Thanks for posting that for me Asif , much appreciated .

cheers
Pete

[MoA]

What does it shoot like?

[Vikram]

You have very good taste,sir, and thank you for sharing the sweet torture of bringing back a classic to life.One of our former members is a great fan of M-S actions and used to wax a lot how difficult and expensive they were to make.All the best with the project and please share with us how she shoots when she is ready.Lovely straight grain on the stock.


Best-
Vikram

[darwinmauser]

What does it shoot like?

MoA , I'm not sure how it shoots yet , the stock was broken before I got the chance to have a play , I did function test it of course but accuracy testing will have to wait until it is completed although I have a very good feeling about it , the barrel is in pristine condition.


Vikram ,while the post office breaking the stock was not a good thing, I had every intention of replacing the original monty carlo stock and the swept back bolt handle anyway , the breakage just made it happen sooner rather than later. Finding a stock blank with enough length and decent figure was the problem ,I had been looking at sites such as Hunterbid and even ebay for about 2 years without finding what I wanted , in the end Gordon had exactly what I was looking for.

cheers
Pete

[Sakobav]

Thanks for sharing Pete and Asif..looking forward to more posts and pictures

Best

[xl_target]

Wow, an MS! Somehow I missed this post.
First of all, Darwinmauser, I just want to say one thing: "You Lucky Dog!"

..and the stock, exceptional work! There is just something about a well executed Mannlicher stocked rifle.

darwinmauser, I sure hope you plan to handload for this rifle. The .280 Remmy is my favorite cartridge but almost all US made commercial cartridges for it are loaded down due to the presence of large numbers of Remington autoloaders and pumps in that caliber. Some say that this is not true anymore but I still think you can easily reload to better than factory ammo performance, with a good bolt rifle in .280 Remington.
I'm sure you're just itching to shoot it right away so when you do, consider the new Superformance ammunition that Hornady is offering:
It is offered in both their GMX and SST bullets. They offer a little more velocity (about 100 fps) than the standard factory load.

The GMX 139 gr load:
Distance - Velocity (fps) / Energy (ft-lbs)
Muzzle - 3070/2908
100 yds - 2871/2544
200 yds - 2681/2218
300 yds - 2499/1927
400 yds - 2324/1666
500 yds - 2156/1434

Looking forward to a range report. I sure hope this thing shoots as good as it looks.
Cheers

[darwinmauser]

Hello xl-target ,
yes I can't wait to try her out ,I should have it back by the end of January or early February . Gordon has taken exceptional care with the bedding of this rifle so I have every confidence it will shoot well . I don't know if the Hornady ammunition is available over here but I have a couple of hundred cases with sufficient stocks of primers and powder ,about the only thing I need is a good supply of projectiles , the ones I have are fairly light weight , will have to invest in a few different types to see what is best for her ,I want to try out some 160 and 180 grain round nose on the local pig population and see how they go .