Help identify my Steyr M95

[stillhere]

This particular rifle is notable for its lack of markings. It has the short front sight, a very nice walnut stock with a brownish shellac or varnish of some kind. It has a front sight hood with two screws. It appears to have a very nicely done brown tinted bluing at some time in the distant past. The barrel and receiver match numbers, and the barrel is in excellent condition. The bolt is force matched with electrostenciled serial. Upon disassembly, I see that most of the small bits are marked with either 'K' or 'R', which I understood to be of Budapest or Austrian manufacture. Rifle has no import marks at all. On other forums, people have said it was 'scrubbed', but wouldn't that leave evidence where the metal was removed? It looks like it never had markings, like the others I've seen.
Here are some pictures. I would really love to know what I have here. I've shot it and it's actually quite accurate, although it is painful as hell to shoot.
















[IMG]http://i1307.photobucket.com/albums/s584/b
eaurrr/steyr/DSC01054_zps04dbbe08.jpg~original[/IMG]



EDIT: added the following pictures of other markings.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[303tom]

Can we see a picture of the whole gun ?................

Modern Firearms - Steyr Mannlicher M95

[stillhere]

Can we see a picture of the whole gun ?................

Modern Firearms - Steyr Mannlicher M95

Sorry about that; here are some. Let me know if you want a shot of the other side. That side has the serial stamped into the stock, near the buttplate, if that helps.

[WarPig1976]

You may realize already but the stock has been recently refinished. The metal has been buffed to remove rust, basically it's been heavily cleaned.
Glad to hear its a good shooter because it's on my list but I was concerned because they sell for so cheap. Enjoy...

[Aragorn243]

It looks like a typical aresenal rework import to me. The electropenciled bolt is a dead giveaway. Not sure why it has no import mark, could have been missed, could have been removed. Unlikely it came prior to the law taking affect. These guns coming in are already clean, usually reblued and they have that shellac finish on them. They are cheap but not sure why that concerns you, get one now before they go up. They are the equivalent of a K98 RC, inspected and redone to like new condition.

[303tom]

I going to go out on a limb & say it is a common arsenal reworked M95/30 short rifle. Why it has NO import mark, I have NO idea, but it looks like a nice one, good luck with her !.....

[WarPig1976]

I could be wrong no doubt about that. I still think it was one of the beat ones that somebody refinished based on the fact the finish has been applied thinly and uniformly. Not slapped on like one typically sees. There are no scratches anywhere, If you notice around the sling swivel it appears someone took his time and removed it prior to finishing.

The metal looks buffed not reblued, the butt plate has no scratches like you'd expect. Just my observations but again I could be wrong.

[stillhere]

I could be wrong no doubt about that. I still think it was one of the beat ones that somebody refinished based on the fact the finish has been applied thinly and uniformly. Not slapped on like one typically sees. There are no scratches anywhere, If you notice around the sling swivel it appears someone took his time and removed it prior to finishing.

The metal looks buffed not reblued, the butt plate has no scratches like you'd expect. Just my observations but again I could be wrong.

The metal is definitely reblued, although it may not show very well in the photos. Under the wood, it's pretty obvious, and in very good shape. As for the buttplate, it has more of the same finish, which is to say a bluing that is more brownish in color, almost like my old Colts (but not as a high quality).
Considering the normally modest prices these guns command, it seems odd that someone would would go through so much effort to refinish the whole thing this well.
Another thing I'm curious about is the serial stamped into the barrel, the receiver, and the stock, and the fact that they use the "E" suffix. I also see an 'E' stamped on the opposite side of the receiver, which leads me to ask whether the lone 'E' on one side of the receiver is related to the serial number suffix.

---------- Post added at 03:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 PM ----------

It looks almost identical to mine when I got it. I removed the shellac and oiled it. They did a nice refurb on a lot of them. It's not shellac like the Russians used, it's better quality and they applied it better.

Do you have any pictures? I'm curious to see what markings yours has, and also the rear sight. Mine has this short site that is not fully marked to the top with graduated distance marks, which seems weird. Does yours have a banded front sight? How about any marking on the receiver? I've heard the suggestion that this one has been scrubbed, but I can't figure out why would someone even bother, and also wouldn't that leave some trace?

[Aragorn243]

Mine is marked with the old style date and "S" on the barrel, the receiver is marked Budapest and M95. Serial number on the receiver. Short rear sight fully marked to the top. No banded front sight. I don't think that belongs on the rifle but not positive. There is no examples of it in "Mannlicher Military Rifles" by Scarlata.

Scrubbed would have been done at the arsenal refurbishment and would depend on how bad the rifle was pitted, etc. Yours shows evidence of pitting which may be why some of the marks are missing. They try to restore the rifles to like new condition for either long term storage or for sale to another party and a lot of these were rebuilt after WWI and WWII. The electropencil mark is most likely Bulgarian in origin.

[Aragorn243]

It looks almost identical to mine when I got it. I removed the shellac and oiled it. They did a nice refurb on a lot of them. It's not shellac like the Russians used, it's better quality and they applied it better.