Need help with this steyr 1899

[mmppres]

Need help with this steyr 1899. marked 7.7 not sure which one bore is shaded but good rifling, picked it up for 50.00

Information

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[Eaglelord17]

Likely in .303 British. I believe in Indonesia they converted a bunch of these rifles left over from the Dutch to .303 British.

[mmppres]

so i should disregard the 7.7 an do a chamber cast to be safe

[Aragorn243]

7.7 is another designation for 303 British but best to do a cast. These were originally in 6.5 Dutch Mannlicher, a nearly impossible cartridge to find. They converted them to 303 British, turned them into carbines and added that flash suppressor.

[mmppres]

thanks Steve I learned something new. wiped it down tonight wood looks good hand guard has split but can deal with that.

[Aragorn243]

Malaysia is specifically who did the modifications. The rifle you have was made in Austria by Steyr for the Dutch East Indies. This territory was controlled by the Netherlands but oddly enough procured their own weapons which were similar to but not identical to the Dutch weapons. Makes for a huge number of variations for what is essentially the same rifle. Dutch manufacture rifles were made by Hemburg under contract from Steyr. They are not Mausers but Mannlichers. The same clip should work for both the 6.5 or the 7.7 as 6.5 cartridges are made from 303 brass. Getting the clip is the hard part. Took me about a year to find a couple and then three years to find some ammo. You sure do seem to get some interesting things pretty cheap. I guess the big question with this is as usual, what's the bore look like? The Malaysians don't have a good rep for taking care of these. Does it have a rubber butt plate?

[mmppres]

Hi Steve
Bore looks decent little dark with strong rifling. butt plate is metal. Reason I get stuff that is crazy an cheep is because I am known to buy any firearm, in any shape for parts. If a firearm is in good shape off the get go I pay regular price but if unknown an rough its parts only till I get into it. Bought whole box of protector an defender auto pistols last night. Now I have a big jigsaw puzzle to go thru.

[henry r]

wow, i think i'm in love.

that thing reminds me of an old large ball peen hammer i have, i have no idea who once used it or what for. it might once have been a beautiful tool, but not anymore. now both the handle and head are scarred up and polished from use. it's handle is nearly black from grease, oil, dirt and sweat, plus has been crudely shortened and modified.
there is nothing subtle or delicate about it so it rarely gets used, but when i do need to impart serious crude force, i know it will do so with near beautiful efficiency.

[mmppres]

wow that is so poetic, such great works for an old war horse

[Calif-Steve]

The Dutch 6.5 round is merely the .303 necked down to 6.5mm. So converting them to .303 was an easy task. I had one of these years back. Came out of FedOrd in Los Angeles. A trainwreck of a piece. I sent it back and got my $19.99 from them. No idea who kept them as I later heard they were junk, but that was FedOrd, for sure.