The M95/24 is often mistakenly attributed to Bulgaria, but 8x57mm IS was never a standard caliber of the Bulgarian military. This conversion was designated M95/24 in Greece and M95M in Yugoslavia. Greece and Yugoslavia converted at least some of their captured M1895s to 7.92×57mm Mauser, fed by stripper clips instead of the original model's en bloc clip system. Between the World Wars, both Austria and Hungary converted the majority of their rifles to fire the more powerful ( 8×56mmR) round. The M1895 was originally chambered in the 8 mm M.1893 scharfe Patrone ( 8×50mmR Mannlicher) cartridge. The weapon was issued with a ten-inch blade knife bayonet that was unusual in that the edge faced upwards when mounted on the rifle. It consequently renowned for combining a high rate of fire (around 35 rounds per minute) with reliability and sturdiness, although this requires decent care and maintenance with an extractor that is vulnerable to breakage due to a lack of primary extraction. The M1895 is unusual in employing a straight-pull bolt action, as opposed to the more common rotating bolt-handle of other rifles. Post war many were sold as cheap surplus, with some finding their way to the hands of African guerrillas in the 1970s, and many more being exported to the US as sporting and collectible arms.
Numbers of these rifles also saw use in World War II, particularly by second line, reservist, and partisan units in Romania, Yugoslavia, Italy and to lesser degree, Germany. The main foreign user was Bulgaria, which, starting in 1903, acquired large numbers and continued using them throughout both world wars. It was initially adopted and employed by the Austro-Hungarian Army throughout World War I, and retained post-war by both the Austrian and Hungarian armies. It was nicknamed the "Ruck-Zuck" ("right now" or "very quick") by Landsers (German slang for "troops"). The Steyr-Mannlicher M1895 rifle is a bolt-action rifle, designed by Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher that used a refined version of his revolutionary straight-pull action. M95/30 rifle: 3.36 kilograms (7.4 lb) emptyĨ×50mmR Mannlicher, 8×56mmR Steyr / Hungarian, 7.92×57mm Mauserĥ-round en bloc clip (stripper clip in M95/24 and M95M rifles), internal box magazine M95 long rifle: 3.8 kilograms (8.4 lb) empty M95 long rifle, M95/24 rifle, M95M rifle, M95/30 short rifle The rest are various 1895 models.Īustria-Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Ottoman Empire, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, Yugoslavia The long rifle on far left is an 1888 model and the carbine on the far left is an 1890 model.