Steyr M95 Sporter

J

johnwilliamson062

Moderator
Well, i am about to sin...
I have been wanting to make a few sporters out of straight pull actions for a while and it seemed like there weren't any to be had in my range. THen we end up with this glut of Steyr M95s. I am thinking I should pick up a few to hold onto for the actions. Seems many of these guns have atrocious barrels and are missing things like swivels and sights.

Other straight pulls are too valuable to be doing this too and are usually in better shape than I hear these are. Sometimes blasphemy is too tempting, just don't tell my friend in the C&R area.

One to 30-06 for hunting

One to 460 SW for a companion carbine

Mostly to fit hunting "needs."

One to... Well i will buy a few extra and sporter the worst ones first.



The conversions won't be happening for some time, but best to get the actions while they are readily available at a good price, right?
 
I have thought the same thing when shooting my mil surp straight pulls. Just seems like they would make a great hunting rifle. Don't rule out the Swish. There have been some K31s and K11s imported in recent months that might be in your range. My idea is to replace the stock, and add a scout scope mount at the rear sight and save the originals. It could be done in such a way that the rifle could be restored if it became valuable in the future. The problem with the steyr miight be the odd size cartridge/bullet/bore.
 
I would be re-barreling these. From some research online it seems these are much easier to rebarrel then the K31 or K11. I have a 308 K11. The bolt stuck bad the first few times I shot it. As such it is now relegated to Sentry duty covering the Golden rod power cord entry hole in the back of my safe.
 
The M95 was originally designed around the 8x50R cartridge. Most were later chambered in the hotter 8x56R. Can it hold up to 30-06 pressures?
 
Short answer: NO.

While the Swiss will, the 120-something year old Steyr won't.

Also, AFAIK, the action's too short for a standard (.30-06) length cartridge.


.
 
Converting military actions into sporter rifles is an expensive proposition. The end result usually costs more than a new, or decent used, M700/M70/M110.

Military rifles are best left in their original caliber as feed and extraction issues pop up when you change calibers.

I don’t think there is anything really wrong with a 8 X 56R as a sporting cartridge, just that brass is hard to find.

Bubba won’t know what it is and won’t want it.

I don’t know how late the production of 1895 actions went, but most of them are WW1 or earlier and the metallurgy of the period stinks.

Now if you have a 30’s vintage M1895 action, the metal is probably just fine.
 
I don’t think there is anything really wrong with a 8 X 56R as a sporting cartridge, just that brass is hard to find.
Click to expand...

and bullets, 8x56R does not use standard 7.92 bullets so there is almost no factory bullets out there for 8x56.




Now if you have a 30’s vintage M1895 action, the metal is probably just fine.
Click to expand...
I've been wrong before but I'm pretty sure production of the 1895 was all prior to WWI. any rifles with a 30 designator in the name should reflect that in the 30s they chopped the Uber long 1895s down to carbine length.
 
From some research online it seems these are much easier to rebarrel then the K31 or K11.
Click to expand...

That's what I've heard; they're similar (except with weird threads) to rebarrelling a Mauser. A rebarrel to 7.62x54R and 30-40Krag apparently requires little work other than the barrel (can still use the clips).

I'm looking to rebarrel one of these to glorious .50 Alaskan. Some weeks ago I was did the research for the bolt thrust calcs over on THR; you may find the info useful:
Chamber Pressure in Regards to Cartridge Selection (sent money off for cheap used dies today, and will be buying a cheap 50cal blank soon :D)

The main thrust (:rolleyes:) of my math was that choosing a cartridge with a lower pressure than the factory is the best bet (even if caliber is going up some). In the case of the .50AK, the larger bolt thrust area is offset by a much lower pressure. These are sturdy actions, successfully chambered in 8mm Mauser, and moreso in the extremely potent 8x56R cartridge, and if you keep your pressures and bolt thrust below those, you will be safer than the unaltered configuration. (I will be testing my model with a vice and string the first few times, though :o)

TCB
 
Always ruining my fun with logic.

Looks like i am limited to 30-30 and 45-70 by pressure.

Could go 357 max by pressure and probably 44 super mag or whatever the 44 stretched is called. Maybe the 454 with a bit of finger crossing.

All but the 30-30 are larger diameter and I know that will complicate things a bit.

I would probably do at least the first on my own.

To hell with it, I will just settle on more Encore barrels.
 
It's an interesting action, and would be a most cool, idiosyncratic sporter.

I've had one of them for years, and found it punishing to shoot in 8x56mmR, so I think any large caliber is out, but what about a 7mm Mauser conversion?

In any event, it would be a labor of love.
 
348 win looks good according to SAAMi, but I prefer readily available cartridges. 357 max obviously isn't readily available, but the compatible cartridges are available in any gun shop or walmart.
 
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