Mannlicher Berthier info

[Casull]

Hi all,
I got a Mannlicher Berthier carbine today that I bought on here in the EE.
It took me a little while to figure out how to get the bolt out and I still haven't found any sort of safety catch.
Is it normal to need striper clips for the magazine to work?
Does anyone know much about these rifles? This carbine is in very nice shape and the bore is VG or better.
Are these actions reasonably strong? It is dated 1894. The registration says 1892 Artillery carbine.
I loaded some ammo tonight with fairly light loads I looked up on loaddata.com.
It's a nice little carbine for sure. I'd appreciate any info you guys have on these.
Thanks,
Rob

 

[JP]

- I still haven't found any sort of safety catch.

No safety on French Rifles untill the Mas 44/49 design

- Is it normal to need striper clips for the magazine to work?

Yes all rifles based on the Mannlicher design need a clip to work.

 

[Claven2]

That carbine takes 3 round clips (e-bay has 'em) but the 5 round ones are more common and will work if you only load 3 rounds into them.