M95 Steyr 8X56 action

[trotterlg]

How strong is a M95 Steyr action considered to be?  Can it be compared to one of the Mausers?  I have one and was considering building a custom rifle using it.  I have considerable machining resorces avaliable to me and some skills in the area.  Larry

[canon6]

Larry, the M95 was at first loaded with a propriety cartridge,however during WWII, lots were converted to the 7.92(8mm) Mauser.So the Armies of Germany, Italy and The Slavic countries used a bunch of them.fwiw        Doug

[trotterlg]

I got a nice one today for $80.00.  I am going to put a bushing in the bolt face for a smaller fireing pin and set it up for a smaller diameter cartridge, don't know exactly which one, but I have a .20 cal barrel, so I think I will make up some sort of 20 cal varmint rifle wildcat for a stright pull bolt rifle for Coyotes.  Bet you won't see a lot of those around.  Larry

[walnutred]

While it is true many were converted to 8x57, remember these were intended for use in conquered countries by indigenous RESERVE forces. With the exception of a few that were given as war reparations. Not the strongest endorsement for conversion. While I like these actions I do not think they are up to 98 Mauser strength. Also, I think your going the wrong direction with a 20 caliber barrel. Unless you have the parts to convert the magazine group as well your going to need a ctg that will work in the m95 clip to get it to fee properly. Think along the lines of 444 Marlin and 348 Winchester, or even 7.62x54 and yoru looking in a more practical direction.

I always wanted to use a M95 action for a left hand conversion in one of those ctgs but with lever actions being readily available never got around to it..

[trotterlg]

walnutred: Thanks, there is not much knowledge out there about these rifles.  I have decided to do it up in a necked down 30-30 case, guess it would be a 20-30?  Looks like it will feed from the clip with a small amount of tweeking.  I have the barrel threaded now and milled a little flat on the rear bridge of the action to mount a scope base to.  When I do the calculations on bolt thrust I get a limit of 58,000 psi with the 30-30 case diameter, so I think it probably will work out OK.  Just something to do, but it will be fun.  Larry

[walnutred]

That looks like it has potential.    If you had not already had a 20 caliber barrel the old 25-35 Winchester might have also made a good 'yote conversion. I hope you are not planning on getting anywhere near that 58,000 PSI mark with a 95 Action though. 

[trotterlg]

When you do the bolt thrust calculations the 30-30 case calculates to produce 75% of the thrust of the 8X56 case at equal pressures, so the maximum PSI for the 30-30 based round is 125% of what the maximum for the 8X56R is.  The 8X56R is about 44,000 PSI, so the 58,000 PSI with the 30-30 case creates the same load on the bolt as the lower pressure 8X56R.  Larry