Rebarreling a Steyr m95 to 7.62x54r

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Eaglelord17

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Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone knows someone would could rebarrel a Steyr M95 to 7.62x54r? I want to keep it the same length and barrel outside diameters as the original barrel, as well as the same sights, basically it would basically be the same rifle just with a new barrel.
 
Will the 7.62 x 54R work in the clip for an 8 x 50 or 8 x 56?
My son has a converted Steyr in 8 x 57 but the clip was missing... major problem there.
Just a thought.
 
Many people use 7.62x54r brass to make 8x50r brass. 7.62x54r will also work in the clip, chamber and fire in a 8x50r Mannlicher and was known to happen in emergencies in WWI (any chance for accuracy gone by that point).

Some people have done the conversion with sporters, I personally am hoping to do it with a M95 that has been deactivated in Bulgaria by milling out part of the chamber. Receiver was never touched, and I just think it would be neat to have one the exact same profile but actually shootable in a common caliber.
 
tokguy said:
Will the 7.62 x 54R work in the clip for an 8 x 50 or 8 x 56?
My son has a converted Steyr in 8 x 57 but the clip was missing... major problem there.
Just a thought.
Click to expand...

If you look into the mag well of the Steyr, you will see a lip mounted on a large flat spring that fits in the side on the right of the magwell. You shouldn't need special clips to fill the magazines. The one I had would charge from the same chargers used for the K98. The M95M rifles were also fitted with proprietary bolt heads and extractors for the 8x57.

I converted one of those to a 45-70. It was a long/tedious process that involved splitting the clips and welding them back together with a spacer, to make them large enough to accommodate the larger rims of the 45-70. There was also some other fiddling to get the cartridges to feed. The extractor needed to be ground a bit as well.

We looked at converting one to 303 British as well but cut the effort short. The 303 case will fit in the mag well but the taper on the body is a bit extreme. It could be done with a lot of fiddling but honestly, at the time there were thousands of cheap No1, No4 and P17 rifles out there in the $20 price range, which was about the same for the M95 carbines.

The 7.62x54R should actually be a better candidate for the M95 conversion. It has a wider case body than the 303. The rim fits nicely into the chargers and feeds well into the chamber without any messing around.


It was another of the cartridges we looked at. We actually filled a few chargers and cycled them through one of the rifles we had. No immediate issues. The 8x56R chamber is larger in diameter and likely that helped but I believe a 7.62x54R chambered rifle wouldn't pose any real issues.

Not that I'm trying to stop you from playing with such a conversion but WHY???? There are a lot of very decent Mosin 91/30 rifles already out there with excellent bores and are ready to go and they are cheaper than the M95 rifles.
 
I do have a couple Mosin Nagants (currently a M91, M91/30, and M38), and have owned a variety of them. The ones I own do have pretty decent bores, but to be honest I am not much of a target shooter, usually just plinking with a couple different milsurps at a time. The problem with the Mosin Nagants is they really aren't that good a rifle system. The charger system is garbage, the bolt is difficult to operate in comparison to pretty much every other bolt action in existence, and the rifles often get rimlock as the interrupter doesn't work the way it should in theory.

Personally I love the M95 action and think it is a fun different way to shoot. The problem with it is they are a odd caliber to try and shoot effectively (all my M95s are in 8x50r at the moment and that is a hard round to duplicate or even get the rifle to shoot without keyholing).

Recently I got a M95 drill rifle which can't be shot, so I figure why not make it shootable, and put it in a caliber that is at the moment common and cheap as well as being able to function and fit in the rifle without modification other than the barrel being changed out. A good way to make a likely fun range rifle which is different (mannlicher clips, common round, straight pull), and a way for me to put that spare receiver to use. Otherwise the drill rifle will likely just end up hanging on my wall and taking up space, which I am not a fan of.
 
I don't have any of the issues with the Mosin that you're having but then again I don't know what you're doing right or wrong.

As for making the M95 workable. I have no issues with that. If you reload, Hornady makes the proper .329 bullets needed for your bores.

Your choice of cartridge is a good one. The suggestion to use a .308 diameter bore is a very good one. You can even use milsurp ammo in this bore diameter.

The M95 action is a lot stronger than most think. If they are in VG to EXC condition they can be loaded up to 50,000psi without fear.
 
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