JEFFERY’S .256 MANNLICHER RIFLES
German precision engineering, classic English lines
MECHANICAL ENGINEER FERDINAND Ritter von Mannlicher joined the Austrian Arms Factory at STEYR around 1877 and produced a multitude of diverse designs until his death in 1904. It has been said that no other small arms inventor has matched his prolific originality and mechanical wizardry.
Of interest to us are two Steyr military bolt-action rifles designed by Von Mannlicher; firstly the model 1895 Dutch Mannlicher (a slight modification of the 1893 Romanian Mannlicher) chambered in 6.5x53r Mannlicher (160gr 6.5mm bullet at 2 430fps). It employed a turning bolt with dual locking lugs behind a separate bolt head and a unique sliding ejector. The removable bolt head afforded easy headspace adjustment and replacement if damaged. Its 5-round en-bloc clip fell out the bottom of the magazine after the last round was chambered.
The second is the model 1903 Greek military Mannlicher-schönauer rifle. Otto Schönauer, working under Von Mannlicher at STEYR, had improved the rotary spool magazine designed by Von Mannlicher and other Steyr engineers.
Everyone loves slim, lightweight little sporters
This 5-round rotary magazine was subsequently used in all Mannlicher-schönauer sporting rifles. The M1903’s bolt was similar to the M1895’s but the receiver was grooved to accept a cartridge stripper-clip for loading the rimless 6.5x54 Mannlicher-schönauer cartridges (ballistic equivalent of the 6.5x53r). Of course, the rimless round worked much better in the rotary magazine. Many regard the M1903 as Von Mannlicher’s best work.
This brings us to the London firm of WJ Jeffery & Co. In 1887, Webley employed William Jackman Jeffery, aged thirty, to manage their new showroom at 60 Queen Victoria Street, London. In 1891, after this venture had floundered, WJ Jeffery started his own company, eventually located at 13 King Street in St. James. In 1909, William died and his brother Charles carried on with the business.
JEFFERY SOLD DOUBLE rifles, single-shot rifles, bolt-action rifles, shotguns, pistols, revolvers and even air rifles. These ranged from budget-priced farmer’s guns to best-grade fully engraved sidelock double rifles. Jeffery did not manufacture guns or rifles, but outsourced the work to top Birmingham gunmakers such as Leonard Bros, Saunders, Ellis, Webley, Tolley, etc. Most of Jeffery’s bolt-action rifles were made exclusively by Thomas Turner Jr of Birmingham who almost certainly built the two rifles featured in this article.
Jeffery was more than just a smart businessman – he possessed a mind uncluttered with obsolete, traditional ideas; he obtained several patents. He had great ability to appreciate good design, organize outside workers and source components. His greatest contribution is probably the extensive range of proprietary medium and large bore nitro express rifle cartridges he developed. During the years 1895 to 1920, Jeffery was a leader in the British gun trade. Knowing the market intimately, he saw the need for a light, small-bore hunting rifle for deerstalking and hunting small to medium-sized game. At that time, the only other rifles used for such purposes were sporterized bolt-action and single-shot rifles in .303 calibre, and bolt-action 7x57 and 8x57 sporters on Mauser actions.
Jeffery chose the 1895 Mannlicher and its 6.5x53r cartridge to build just such a light, trim and handy sporter. The 6.5x53r had a much flatter trajectory than the .303 and had already demonstrated excellent terminal performance due to the deep penetration of its 160grain bullet with a sectional density factor of .328 (similar to that of the 220-grain .30-06 bullet). Jeffery was probably not the first to turn the 1895 Mannlicher into a sporter; it is well known that George Gibbs and Daniel Fraser had made early examples, but Jeffery certainly sold the largest number.
This rifle became known as the Jeffery Mannlicher Sporting Rifle. It was produced from 1895 and was still advertised in Jeffery’s 1912/1913 catalogue. Jeffery offered it in six different grades priced from £6. The factory engraved model cost £20. They advertised it as the .256, the British designation for the 6.5mm calibre, following the British practice of naming cartridges by the bore diameter, not the groove diameter.
When the M1903 Greek military Mannlicher-schönauer became available, Jeffery likewise turned it into a beautiful sporting rifle known as the (new model) “Jeffery Mannlicher-schönauer Sporting Rifle” offered in three grades. The calibre remained .256 but of course it was now the rimless 6.5x54mm cartridge.
The Jeffery catalogues reflected many optimistic testimonials for the .256 Jeffery Mannlicher rifles such as: “can be used effectively up to 300 or 400 yards”, “will soon supersede the Double Expresses”, “enormous penetration renders them effective against elephants, bison, crocodiles …”, “I have killed two bears, one black and one red, the former at 500 yards” and “for sporting purposes there is no other rifle that can equal it”.
Although these claims seem farfetched, the .256 Mannlicher had a huge following around the world, half the glory going to the M1895 with its rimmed cartridge. In fact, it is often difficult to determine which of the two models is being referred to. Users praised the rifle’s reliability, effectiveness, smoothness of action, light weight and handiness in the field.
The rifle illustrated here is an example of the M1895 Jeffery Mannlicher, the ‘No.1’ in the Jeffery catalogue. Its action is marked ‘STEYR’ and dated ‘1897’, the year STEYR built the original military rifle. Jeffery’s records indicate that this sporting rifle (s/n: 5918) was completed in 1898. It has a very slim stock with flat-top chequering on the pistol-grip and fore-end, a chequered steel butt-plate with hidden trap, and horn fore-end tip and grip-cap. The turned-down bolt handle has a large round knob. The beautifully contoured 26-inch barrel is engraved with the serial number and ‘W.J. Jeffery & Co, 13 King Street St.james’s, London’. It has a ramp front sight and 3-leaf express rear sight (the leaves fold rearwards). There are round sling swivels beneath the barrel and the stock.
This trim rifle weighs only 7.1 pounds and it handles beautifully. It is remarkable how Jeffery turned an ugly military rifle into such an elegant sporter. The large bolt knob is surprisingly comfortable to operate and the action is as smooth as glass. The en-bloc stripper clip works very well, cleanly dropping out the bottom of the magazine-well on chambering the last round. A spare 5-round clip carried in your pocket is handy when hunting.
Also illustrated here is an example of the M1903 Jeffery Mannlicher-schönauer, serial number 21230, the ‘No.8’ rifle in the Jeffery catalogue. The action is marked ‘STEYR’ and dated ‘1910’. Jeffery’s records indicate that it was completed in 1912. The top of the receiver ring is marked ‘Modell 1903’.
The stock is slightly thicker, due to the rotary magazine, and has flat-top chequering on the pistol-grip and foreend, a chequered steel butt-plate with hidden trap, and horn fore-end tip and grip-cap. Sling swivels are similar. The bolt handle is turned down and has a large, round, hollow knob. The 26-inch barrel has a slightly heavier profile with a ramp front sight and a 5-leaf express rear sight. The Jeffery name and serial number are engraved atop the barrel, ahead of the rear sight. The rifle weighs slightly more at 7.25 pounds.
This rifle was factory fitted with an original Rigby aperture sight mounted on the cocking-piece; consequently all five of the express sight blades can be folded down. Again, the sight leaves fold rearwards, unlike Rigby and A-type Mauser express sights.
ANGLO-BOER WAR General Piet Cronje used an 1895 Mannlicher sporting rifle at the famous battle of Paardeberg. After Cronje’s surrender, the rifle was found in the trenches by Australian trooper Thomas Gunning and is now displayed in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. WDM ‘Karamojo’ Bell used an 1895 straight-magazine Mannlicher sporterised by George Gibbs of Bristol, and later acquired a 1903 Mannlicher-schönauer with his name and Nairobi telephone number stamped inside the trap in the steel butt-plate; this rifle is still in existence.
FC Selous used an 1895 Mannlicher, also by Gibbs, and still in existence. Other prominent users of the 1895 Mannlicher were Sir Edmund Loder, John G. Millais, Maj R.L. Kennion, PHG Powell-cotton, Maj CH Stigand and Blayney Percival, all of whom used it to kill lions, rhino and elephant. The famous lion hunter, Sir Alfred Pease, used a .256 Mannlicher for 18 years to kill many lions, mostly by the extremely dangerous method of ‘galloping lions’.
When STEYR observed that British gunmakers were doing a brisk trade in sporterised military Mannlicher-schönauer rifles, they produced their own sporting version in a range of commercial calibres. These were the Model 1903 (6.5x54mm), model 1905 (9x56mm), model 1908 (8x56mm) and model 1910 (9.5x57mm), assembled at the Oesterreichische Waffenfabrik Gesellschaft Steyr. All had flat ‘butterknife’ bolt handles and are today highly collectable pieces. They were of such high quality that many were cased and re-sold by famous British firms such as William Evans, Purdey, Holland & Holland, and others. The 6.5mm model 1903 is especially sought-after, and has a near-fanatical cult following. STEYR factory-production of these at lower cost eventually led to the demise of Jeffery’s ‘handmade’ models and spelled the end for the ‘Jeffery .256 Mannlicher’. Although very fine rifles, I feel they somehow lack the class of the original Jeffery .256 Mannlichers.
The 6.5mm model 1903 is especially sought-after, and has a near-fanatical cult following