help identifying this rifle

[trailrunner]

My friend's father passed away a couple of years ago, and my friend wound up with this rifle. Since I have a safe, I've been storing it for a while.

The other night I was looking at it trying to identify it. I can't find any markings on it at all, except the recoil pad says Stoeger. I think they imported Tika rifles for a while, so it may be a Tika.

I'm not a rifle person, but there are a couple of unusual things about this gun. One odd thing is that it has two triggers. As far as I can tell through dry fire, only the front trigger does anything. There are also a couple of levers on or near the bolt. I think one lever might be a safety. The bolt itself looks overly complicated, but I guess they had a reason for designing it that way.

I measured the bore to be 0.30 inch at the muzzle. The barrel is sort of a pencil shape and seems a bit thin at the muzzle.



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[Joe in PNG]

The triggers look like a double set trigger- pulling the rear trigger 'sets' the front for a super light pull.

The action looks like it's from a 1903 Springfield. The one lever on the left side is a magazine cutoff.

[ranger]

Looks like a Mannlicher (spelling?) to me. I inherited a similar rifle from my dad who got it from a friend who brought it back from Europe after WW2.

[Half Moon]

Looks like a Mannlicher (spelling?) to me. I inherited a similar rifle from my dad who got it from a friend who brought it back from Europe after WW2.

Yeah pretty sure thats it:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannlicher%E2%80%93Sch%C3%B6nauer

If so, they were very well regarded in their time. I've wanted one ever since reading Jeff Cooper talk about them as one of the inspirations for the Scout concept...

Edited: Then again maybe not. Looking closer at the pictures the bolt handle looks positioned wrong for a Mannlicher. Maybe a Mannlicher clone on a Springfield 1903 action?

[Joe in PNG]

Looks like a Mannlicher (spelling?) to me. I inherited a similar rifle from my dad who got it from a friend who brought it back from Europe after WW2.

The bolt handle is that kind of style, but the cocking piece, safety, and mag cutoff look like a 1903.
It's very likely someone who did the sporterizing wanted something that looked like a Steyr.

[trailrunner]

Thanks for the help so far. My friend's father was in WW2 in Europe.

[fatdog]

I vote sporterized '03, the magazine cutoff is still there and those are not so common on factory sporting rifles.

[okie john]

The triggers look like a double set trigger- pulling the rear trigger 'sets' the front for a super light pull.

The action looks like it's from a 1903 Springfield. The one lever on the left side is a magazine cutoff.

This. The mag cutoff, cocking piece, and safety definitely indicate 1903, but someone has made the bolt handle into a flat European type. They also stippled or checkered the receiver ring and installed European claw-type mounts, which would cover up most if not all of the markings. There may be a flaming bomb proof mark with a date of manufacture just aft of the front sight. That date will be for the barrel, not the action, as most 1903's were rebuilt at least once.

I'd guess that a GI stationed in Europe after WWII had that work done, which was pretty common back in the day. What's uncommon is that it uses a Springfield action--most rifles like this were built on Mauser actions. In theory, any Springfield in Europe would have gone home with the doughboys after the Armistice was signed. Lots of people brought rifles home from Europe but far fewer took a rifle to Europe, had work done, then brought it back home.

What matters is that if this rifle was left behind when the Americans departed in 1919, then it may not be safe to fire. Per the CMP website (https://thecmp.org/sales-and-service/m1903-m1903a3-rifle-information/),


M1903 rifles made before February 1918 utilized receivers and bolts which were single heat-treated by a method that rendered some of them brittle and liable to fracture when fired, exposing the shooter to a risk of serious injury. It proved impossible to determine, without destructive testing, which receivers and bolts were so affected and therefore potentially dangerous.

To solve this problem, the Ordnance Department commenced double heat treatment of receivers and bolts. This was commenced at Springfield Armory at approximately serial number 800,000 and at Rock Island Arsenal at exactly serial number 285,507. All Springfields made after this change are commonly called “high number” rifles. Those Springfields made before this change are commonly called “low-number” rifles.

In view of the safety risk, the Ordnance Department withdrew from active service all “low-number” Springfields. During WWII, however, the urgent need for rifles resulted in the rebuilding and reissuing of many “low-number” as well as “high-number” Springfields. The bolts from such rifles were often mixed during rebuilding, and did not necessarily remain with the original receiver.

Generally speaking, “low number” bolts can be distinguished from “high-number” bolts by the angle at which the bolt handle is bent down. All “low number” bolts have the bolt handle bent straight down, perpendicular to the axis of the bolt body. High number bolts have “swept-back” (or slightly rearward curved) bolt handles.

A few straight-bent bolts are of the double heat-treat type, but these are not easily identified, and until positively proved otherwise ANY straight-bent bolt should be assumed to be “low number”. All original swept-back bolts are definitely “high number”. In addition, any bolt marked “N.S.” (for nickel steel) can be safely regarded as “high number” if obtained directly from CMP (beware of re-marked fakes).

CMP does not recommend firing any Springfield rifle with a ”low number” receiver. Such rifles should be regarded as collector’s items, not “shooters.”

CMP also does not recommend firing any Springfield rifle, regardless of serial number, with a single heat-treated “low number” bolt. Such bolts, while historically correct for display with a rifle of WWI or earlier vintage, may be dangerous to use for shooting.

The United States Army generally did not serialize bolts. Do not rely on any serial number appearing on a bolt to determine whether such bolt is “high number” or “low number.”

The way to tell is to find the serial number, which should be on the right side of the front receiver ring. It should be centered and all numbers should be in the same font, so closely examine the first and last digits--lots of people added a digit to conceal the fact that the rifle is potentially unsafe. If either the first or last digits look off-center or anything else looks odd about them, then the chance of it having been thus altered is far greater.

Definitely have a gunsmith check that out before you shoot it to include having a chamber cast made. If it is still a 30-06, stick to factory loads and avoid hot handloads. 30-06 factory ammo is generally loaded down a bit in deference to rifles of this vintage.


Okie John