Post
by z375 » Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:09 pm
Happyhunter,
I'll second what penpusher just said, the originality/condition of the rifle you've just seen is nothing but a plain lack of use, courtesy of the non-availibility of ammunition for it, whether its a 9x56 or a 9x57, they're both obsolete and impractical, unless you're rolling your own, no matter how pretty the rifle is, but if you're picking up something just to save a licence and getting it at a reasonable price, its your call.
In 2001, a friend of mine picked up what was possible the cleanest and most pristine example of a take-down Mannlicher-Schonauer 1905 (or any rifle for that matter!) chambered in 6.5x54 MS, cartridge trap in the steel buttplate he got the rifle for a measly 12,000 clams, at the time Norma 139-grain ammo was only just starting to enter the market at 250 each which was a helluva lot for that caliber considering older RWS 169's could be had at 100 bucks each. The rifle was very accurate and handled like a dream, in a rapid-fire situation I used to wonder where those 5 rounds went! The gun would print both loads into the same POI surprisingly despite the difference in weight, all of this with open sights at 80 yards.
So before you go in for something like this, just do a little scouting around regarding the ammo if you want to shoot it a bit.
"With solid bullets on heavy animals such as elephant, rhino and buffalo this power is quite apparent but is not so obvious as when soft-nose bullets are being used, say, lion, particularly when is a case of stopping a charge : the .404 will stop him all right, but will seldom crumple him quite so completely as will the .416" -- John Taylor, Big Game and Big Game Rifles, (Ch. IX)
