1903 Sporter Greek Mannlicher

[farshot]

I picked up on eof these lately. After cleaning all the crud off of it, the action looks quite good but, alas, the bbl is fair at best.

It was rusty with throat erosion from corrosive rounds. The lands are not bad looking with the grooves dark and slightly pitted. The last inch or so of the bbl is also shows reduced lands.

Before I load up some ammo - I notice that Hornady makes 160 gr 6.5 bullets in 6.5 in .264 diamter for the mannlicher Schoenauer and 6.5 in .268 for the Caracano.

My question is to those of you who shoot these worn bbls in other guns. Would the extra .004 inch diamter of bullet help with accuracy of a worn bbl generally help or hurt or make no difference.?

I will try and slug the bbl but i doubt I will be ablr to measure effectively the 004 inch.

 

[cyclone]

The bolt-action on that rifle is supposed to be legendary-smooth.....

 

[tiriaq]

Surplus Greek M-S rifles tend to have poor bores. Give it a trial, might shoot well enough for your purposes. I've rebarrelled a few of them, and it is a bit more challenging than many other designs.
I would be a bit hesitant about the .268s. If the oversized bullet were to increase case neck diameter to an interference fit, pressures could spike.

 

[farshot]

good point tiriaq -- didnt think about the neck size in the chamber