Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Mannlicher Schoenauer Rings & Bases

I am in conversation with a fellow to purchase a Mannlicher Schoenauer 1952 carbine in '06. It does not have rings & bases I have two questions.

1: Is the action drilled & tapped for these unusual side mounts or would I have to have this done. I do not like to alter original guns so this could be a deal breaker.

2: What is the availability of these mounts & who makes them? What should I expect to pay for these mounts. The owner thinks they are rare.

Sorry for the uninformed questions but I love the 1952 feel just not very knowledgeable on the gun itself.

Thanks in advance for any information......

Not a direct answer but I had a M/S 1963 MCA carbine and it was not drilled and tapped for sidemounts. I had it drilled and tapped for a (IIRC) Lyman swingover sidemount, biggest rifle mistake I ever made - it upset the balance and feel of the rifle and of course devalued it because it was no longer original. .

I do seem to recall that at one time someone made a mount that used the front sight mount and a sort of side-saddle rear mount that used existing holes so that no extra holes were required. I do remember looking for one of those mounts over 40 years ago and could not find one even at that time. On mine the front receiver ring was not drilled and tapped either.

My advice is to just use it and enjoy it for what it is without installing a scope. Mine was an "as new" carbine and had never been shot when I purchased it, even after installing the scope it was only about a 2 inch shoooter at 100 yds, about the same as I could do using open sights. Adequate hunting accuracy but it pales in comparison to the accuracy of most of todays rifles but the M/S is special with its smoothness of operation and balance.

drover

Thanks Drover!!

The M1952 .257 Roberts I had came with a Redfield mount on it. I for the life of me can't remember if they were factory holes or not. Probably not. The mount did work well though.

Were it mine, I would scout out one of the Lyman swing arm receiver sights. Sure the d/t'ing will detract from its value, but that will be more than offset by the added value of the rare (expensive) sight. Plus they work really well. Another alternative, and one I did on my M1903 M-S, is to put a Lyman cocking piece aperture sight on it. It worked beautifully.

the '52's were not drilled and tapped from the factory for scope mounts. The 1952 was designed "to accept any side mount with a minimum of work" according to Stoeger. Steyr offered a swing mount as well as our domestic ones by Leupold, Pachmayr, Griffin & Howe. I think the Redfield mounts were the best of the USA makes. There is a guy on GunBroker who used to sell reproduction Redfield mounts which were as good as the originals. Not sure if he still does. D&T'ing will lower the value to collectors. I have two '52's one D&T'ed (bought it that way)the other original.

I had memory failure, the swing-over I drilled and tapped mine for was the Pachmyer, not Lyman. It did work well though, swung over easily and returned to zero just fine.

My 63 MCA did not have the front receiver ring D&T'd. I looked long and hard at the Redfield before buying the Pachmyer reasoning that the side-mount would be less offensive than holes in the receiver ring. In retrospect I am not so sure about that now. I seem to recall that my carbine had factory holes on the left rear of the receiver (possibly for a peep sight?) and that the rear Redfield base had an off-set leg.

drover

I have a model 1952 in 257 Roberts. I installed a detachable side mount I think made by Jaeger. The 1952 does not come drilled and tapped but there is a removable sideplate under the left side of the stock that facilitates mounting this type of scope mount.

Mine shoots around an inch often enough to keep me interested and is a joy to carry in the woods. I have a 1.5X5 Leupold on it and it balances great.

As for losing collectors value, these are currently priced so far below what it would cost to reproduce, who cares? I bet the market is close to 50/50 with people that want a scope as opposed to those that don't want a scope. I think a properly installed scope adds value and usefulness. To me the thing that drops collector value is a non professional installation of the scope mount possibly with more than the needed number of holes. Some of them not in a straight line or with a broken off tap.These mounts are not difficult to install but you will save money by having it done right the first time.

These beautiful rifles are hunting rifles and it is a shame not to use them.

They started D&T in 1964 for Redfield bases for Schoenauer's coming to the U.S. My 1952 7x64 has AKAH European claw mounts which is the proper way to scope a Schoenauer without drilling it full of hole's.Steyr also had their own variation of this mount called the swing mount which started in the mid 1950's. [img:center][/img] [img:center][/img]

There is an excellent article in the September 2013 issue of "Rifle" magazine by Terry Weiland on this very subject complete with pictures for those that don't read the articles. Just thought you might like to see what one looks like that is done right. Good luck, you will love the rifle no matter the direction you take.