M1886 AUSTRIAN MANNLICHER RIFLE

This is an interesting old 11 MM design, built around a "straight-pull" bolt. I acquired this particular rifle some years back -- before the bunch that Southern Ohio Guns (SOG) brought in from South America -- although it's likely that that's where this one came from, too. It has no Austrian military acceptance marks, and many of the parts have a Roman Numeral "II" incorporated into them. I have read that this indicates "second quality" for export purposes. The bolt is not numbered to the gun, but fits and functions flawlessly. Unlike the camming action of the later M95 straight-pull actions, this one uses a dropping wedge to lock the bolt (visible in the image just aft of the receiver).

Although it is possible to single-load this rifle without the use of its Mannlicher-style "packet" clip, the rifle was designed to be loaded with a five-round clip as pictured. Upon chambering the last load in the clip, the empty clip falls out of a hole in the bottom of the magazine. (The clip on the left contains original Austrian ammunition. To the left of it are two original issue ammunition boxes, each containing two loaded clips. The clip on the right contains five of my handloads.)