This one predates Jeff Cooper's by a bit, 1917 acceptance date. In all seriousness, had a spare scout scope so threw this on my Austro-Hungarian M1895 Mannlicher made by Steyr, this one was converted to 8x56R in the 1930s so I can shoot PPU, Hornady, and milsurp if I want. I don't think Hornady makes it anymore, but I have a few boxes. I'll sight it in with the PPU soft points and see if I can take a few hogs, deer etc with it before returning it to military configuration and moving the scope to something else. The mount is an S&K rear sight mount. 8x56R has surprisingly decent ballistics, the PPU soft points are a 208 grain bullet with a 0.477 BC going at 2300 FPS. The Hornady interlocks are 205 grain at 2410 but I'm not sure about the BC. I like having the full length barrel knowing I'm squeezing the most velocity I can out of it. 8x56R is a .329 caliber not .323 like most 8mms. With the 1917 acceptance date, this rifle likely saw WWI action with the Austro-Hungarian forces and then WWII action with the Bulgarian army. Any other 8x56R aficionados here?

No experience, just wanted to say...sweet rifle.

Actually all 8mm military rifles have groove sizes from .326 to .330 , 8mm Lebel , 8x50r and 8x56r Man , 8mm Danish , 8mm Murata , 8mm Siamese , 8mm Port . Only the German 7.9x57mm is .321 to .323 .

Nice rifle. I always enjoy shooting the straight pulls. I have at least a couple of the M95/34s. Maybe more. One I used to shoot a lot. That short carbine is a fire breathing dragon. Back when the ammo in nazi marked boxes was first being imported, it was dirt cheap. I used to buy a case at a time, put the nazi marked boxes and en bloc clips on ebay for more than twice what I paid for the ammo, then pack the loose ammo into surplus 50cal ammo boxes sorted by country, date, and bullet style. Once all the boxes with clips sold, I would buy another case and repeat. By the time the imported supply dried up I already had a free lifetime supply of surplus ammo for my Mannlicher's. I had once planned on doing a no gunsmith scout scope setup like yours, pulling bullets and toping with soft points or cast bullets for hunting, but I never got around to that project. I do wish I had bought one of the long rifles when they were being imported and cheap. I think I only paid around $50 each for my M95/34s. I bet these are well into the 100s now.

I have 11 of those from M-90 to M-95/34's . Rifles and carbines in both 8x50 [ the best ] and 8x56 . I never got the Hornady bullets to shoot very well . My best bullet was old Speer or Norman .323 225 grain hollow base round nose . I have a 8x50 Euro sporter carbine that I have used to get hogs . It will do 2.5 inch 5-shot groups with the 225 at 100 yards with the iron sights .

Went to the range, shot PPU soft points, PPU FMJ, and some of the elusive Hornady soft points, sighting in with the PPU soft points since that's the readily available hunting ammo. Not a tack driver but it wasn't built to be one and the bore is not in the best condition after being on the losing side of two world wars, best group was 1.27" at 50 yards. That'll be good enough for hogs and I'm sure I could do better with more practice and a cooler barrel. The trigger is surprisingly good I would say. I've shot this one before, but more casually with iron sights. Feeding was good and the en-bloc clip always drops free on mine. Next time I may try some of my 1938 surplus ammo stash, just didn't have time to deal with corrosive this weekend. Overall length is 50.1", just edging out my M96 Swede at 50" to be the longest gun in my collection.

Finally had a chance to take it out for some hog hunting, of course they were all too scared to show up but nice to have it out in the field.

I would be interested in the size of your 5-shot 100 yard groups with the Hornady bullet , as I never got better than about 6 inches .

How do you like the Burris scout scope?

At 50 the PPU seemed more accurate than the Hornady; sometime I'll test at 100.

The Burris 2.75 is great as a scout scope, good eye relief and eye box, nice reticle for quick snap shooting, very light which is nice for these heavy old milsurps. I had it in on my Swede and killed hogs from 75-300 yards with it. I have the 2-7x32 scout scope on my Swede and on a Mosin, they're not as good as far Jeff Cooper's vision of a scout scope but better in low light and for slower paced accuracy focused shooting, basically a stand-in for a normal scope if you want to scope these old milsurps without permanent modification. I had a Hi-Lux scout scope too, it's decent for the money but the Burris are better.

I am thinking long term for a top eject win 94. Not a lot of scout soles out there, and maybe it’s the tight wad in me but I feel like there is a significant lack of bang for your buck with scout scopes. Thanks for your insight.

I'd go with the Burris 2.75 for that for sure, wouldn't affect handling much.

65, you mentioned Jeff Cooper twice. His daughter that wrote book about him hunts with us as a quest from time to time. She only hunts with his original(or facsimile of). She’s proud of the rifle and it’s cool, along with her.

I'm a scout rifle guy, I understand and use the concept, and have a bunch of them.

65X55, here is my SMLE MK4, it was a beater that served as a truck gun on a large ranch for about 40 years. Bore and groove was good, so I got busy.





Winchester offered two Timber Scouts at the end of the last century; 1000 rifles chambered in 30-30 and 500 chambered in 44 Mag. I had both, selling the 44 Mag.



My dad had a '66 M94 that he hunted with the last half of his life. It was chambered in 30-30 Win, and to "scout" it. I found an original Burris sight, the QD with the integral open sights. I had the rifle rechambered to 35-30. What a nice brush hunting cartridge!




I have a number of production "scouts". Here are two of my "built" favorites.



1954 Savage 340 turned scout, chambered in 30-30 Win. I've been hunting with this rifle since the '60s.



I favor the Weaver Classic Scout K4, a bit more forgiving with the stock to cheek weld that others. They are no longer offered, but I bought a couple for other projects down the road.

Very nice collection.

Ranch Dog,

I'd forgotten about your SMLE...I love that thing!

And the 340? You know, for a cheap, single-lug piece with (usually) a gate latch trigger, I've never seen one that didn't shoot well above expectations...

My first .30-30 was a Savage 340, was a fun little gun for sure. Traded it towards a Kar98k, but wouldn't mind getting another some day. Lighter and handier than a 336 from what I remember.

My bride's first rifle was a 340 in .222. It's long gone now but they're interesting chunks of firearm design history.

And your Steyr looks like a ton of fun. I'll admit, it wasn't what I expected from the thread title...and it might be just a TOUCH longer than Col. Cooper would prefer!

I watched a guy shoot one of those at the range recently and it was punishing his shoulder . Hard to watch

This is my hardest kicking rifle for sure, and the carbine length ones are much worse from what I hear. 8x56R was developed as machine gun round before they decided to convert most of the 8x50R M1895s to 8x56R to put them in the same league as 8x57/.30-06 etc. A Limbsaver/Decelerator helps a lot with both recoil and length of pull. Collecting the various types of en bloc clips made over the years is additional fun. One of my dream guns would be a Ruger No. 1 or similar in 8x56R.

Neat rifle!

Thanks for sending me down a YouTube rabbit hole 🤣