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Μάνλιχερ-Σέναουερ Υ:1903/14
The Mannlicher-Schönauer M1903/14 was the final heir to the Gewehr 88s legacy in ŒWG Steyr's export roster. A finely machined piece of equipment, it was a large leap for the Kingdom of Greece - one of the last nations in Europe to adopt a smokeless repeating rifle
History
The Kingdom of Greece at the tail end of the 19th century, just like other nations at the time, sought to unify the majority Greek areas outside its own borders and absorb them into its own nation-state.
The first major confrontation over this goal came with the Ατυχής πόλεμος, the Unfortunate War as the Greeks would call it, in 1897 over the issue of Cretan autonomy.
Despite having promised to grant it in 1878 after a decisive defeat against a Russian-led coalition, the Ottomans had thus far not given up full control over the island - an issue that came to a boiling point in 1897 when an insurgency by the Greek population broke out. After Greek troops landed on the island illegally to support the Cretans tensions quickly rose.
Although a promise by the concert of Great Powers to enforce Cretan autonomy if the Greeks withdrew was made, the Greeks rejected the demand, leading to open war with the Ottoman Empire in April of 1897.
The month-long war quickly showed just how ill-prepared the Greek army was for the war.
The Ottoman forces were trained according to modern German doctrine and armed with state-of-the-art weaponry.
Where the Greek infantryman had to rely on the black powder Mle 1874 Gras rifles they had adopted 20 years prior, their opponents were already being equipped with the third generation of repeating rifles, the second of the smokeless ones.
The numerically and technologically superior Ottomans quickly gained the upper hand in a lop-sided victory.
Russian intervention prevented the worst for the Greek Kingdom and even led to the initially desired autonomy for Crete, but it was clear that if they were to assert their ambitions in other areas still under Ottoman control, they would need to re-equip their army.
Otto Karl Schönauer (1834-1913)
Although quickly abandoned by the German Army due to concerns with the action and public pressure, the Gewehr 88 would have a long-lasting legacy as the grandfather to ŒWG Steyr's export line, as well as war aid to German allies during the Great War
Schulhof's 1888 patent, pairing the Spitalsky rotary magazine with a rifle
Being late to the frenzy of adopting modern smokeless and repeating rifles awarded the Greeks a certain advantage - many nations had already adopted and figured out what did and did not work well.
And so the first round of trials would pitch several designs out of Mauser Oberndorf against the then-current Romanian pattern Md.1893 from ŒWG Steyr, with a tendency towards the the Swedish pattern Mauser M/96 and the Md.1893, although the Mauser was later swapped out for the Spanish pattern M1893, which proved its value in the Spanish-American War of 1898.
With no concrete decision having been made yet, Mauser agents attempted to persuade German banks to grant a loan to the Greek government for arms procurement from Mauser Oberndorf - a futile endeavour due to the financial situation of the Kingdom at the time, meaning more time would pass until the next round of trials.
By the time it finally came to pass, ŒWG Steyr had introduced its newest export pattern - the Mannlicher-Schönauer M1900.
While the general action remained true to the earlier Gewehr 88 and Mannlicher modified export rifles, the M1900 introduced several novelties, the main ones being a tangent rear sight instead of a traditional ladder, a pistol grip stock and, most famously, a rotary magazine operated via a coil spring and loaded via stripper clip instead of the Mannlicher en bloc clip used before. The magazine core was based on a patent by Anton Spitalsky (1831-1909), further modified by Josef Schulhof (1824-1890) and ultimately finalised by Otto Schönauer (1844-1913), then the technical director at ŒWG Steyr.
The Portuguese ultimately went for a different approach, combining the Oberndorf and Steyr platforms, but the Greeks saw merit in this new rifle. Even after Mauser Oberndorf threw their newest M1904 export pattern into the ring the Mannlicher-Schönauer was adopted, winning out against both the Mauser, and a native design known as the Οπλον Φιλιππίδου, the "Phillipidis Gun" which was based on an earlier ŒWG Steyr design. Political maneuvering by the company and confiscation of the prototypes still stored in Steyr prevented the consideration of this particular rifle.
In 1905 the first contract for the rifle, which was adopted as the Υ:1903 was signed with the first deliveries starting in 1906.
By and large the design did not change, except for small alterations to the stock and cartridge hold.
The roughly 113,500 infantry rifles ordered in the years leading up to the Great War received their trial by fire during the two Balkan Wars. Although many were lost to attrition, the rifle performed well compared with allies and enemies alike.
Thus another contract was signed in 1913 for 200,000 additional rifles to be delivered by late 1915 and 1918 in 100,000 unit batches, this time in a slightly modified pattern giving birth to the new standard - the Υ:1903/14.
The Greek army appears to have been quite content with the base action and magazine, so the modifications limited themselves to the stock and fittings:
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Most notably, a full length upper handguard was introduced
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The mid-barrel band was simplified
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The finger grooves lost the upturn on the rear end to indicate where to pull up on the handguard during disassembly
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A stacking rod on the front barrel band
The outbreak of war in 1914 meant that this new Greek rifle entered the Great War that followed less than a year after the Second Balkan War before the Kingdom of Greece did, being sequestered to alleviate rifle demand in the Austro-Hungarian army.
The Schönauer rotary magazine provides an excellent and entirely controlled feed, allowing for smooth operation. The rotating floor plate allows for the assembly to be removed quickly from the action for maintenance. One of the drawbacks however is that the rifles could not easily be rechambered for the later adopted 8x57mm cartridge, as the magazine only works with specific dimension cartridges
The stock fittings being changed to be similar to the Mannlicher M.95 as used by the Bulgarians might indicate that the Greeks saw merit in these features during their experiences with Bulgarian units in the Balkan Wars
Both the Austro-Hungarians and the Greeks prized the rifle as rugged and reliable.
With the collapse of the Dual Monarchy, the Greeks received the remaining sequestered rifles back, but after only having received around 52,000 rifles, the Greek army was short of rifles and spare parts. Another Greco-Turkish war following the Great War meant even more losses.
Today you can find Greek Mannlicher-Schönauer rifles in a variety of configurations because of that. Full interchangeability of parts between the 1903 and 1903/14 models meant that the Greeks mixed and matched what they had at hand.
Only in the 1920s would the government sign another contract for the rifle. Occasionally called the Υ:1903/14/27, the restrictions placed on Steyr post-war meant that this time the rifles came out of the Breda factory in Italy.
This would be the last breath of the pattern as the official Greek standard. In 1930 the Greek army adopted an FN M24 pattern Mauser design. Despite this, the Mannlicher-Schönauer saw continued use in the Second World War, as well as the Greek Civil War.
Despite having one of the most active combat records of any rifle model of the early 1900s, the action is most famous for its civilian application as a hunting rifle, leading to many being lost to conversion jobs in the private sector as a cheap alternative to the official hunting lineup.
Members of the Austro-Hungarian Polish legion using sequestered Y:1903/14 rifles
Mechanism
Bolt
The Greek Mannlicher–Schönauer uses a conventional turn-bolt action. It is derived from the earlier Gewehr 88 / Schlegelmilch action, later refined by Otto Schönauer.
The bolt is two-piece: a main bolt body and a separate bolt head at the front. The bolt head is non-rotating and carries the floating extractor/ejector arrangement, while the bolt body turns around it.
Locking is via two symmetrical front lugs on the bolt body, positioned immediately behind the bolt head. Behind the locking lugs a gas vent hole is positioned to blow gas away from the shooter in case of a failure.
The receiver has a split rear bridge. The bolt handle passes through this split as the bolt is drawn back, and when closed the handle bears against the bridge, providing an additional emergency locking surface.
Magazine
The magazine is Schönauer’s distinctive five-round rotary (spool) magazine set flush inside the rifle. Instead of cartridges stacking in a box, they sit in curved recesses around a rotating spool. A spring turns the spool to bring each round up in sequence, presenting it centrally for the bolt to pick up.
Wikipedia
Capacity is five rounds, and the rifle is normally loaded from the top using a five-round stripper clip in the charger guides. Rounds can also be pressed in singly.
To unload without cycling cartridges through the chamber, the rifle has a magazine release/emptying button on the receiver right hand side of the receiver. With the bolt open, pressing this release lets the spool unwind and lifts the remaining rounds up through the action for removal (this is quite fun to do).
Markings
Model Designation & Crest
Right atop the receiver you can find the Greek Cross and crown marking, acting as the largest property mark. Underneath it, the model designation Y:1903/14 can be found.
Contract Marking
As was typical with contract rifles out of ŒWG Steyr, the manufacturer, simply abbreviated as Steyr, as well as the year of manufacture can be found on the left side receiver wall.
While "trueborn" Y:1903/14s will always have "Steyr 1914" written there, earlier rifles in the 1914 pattern can be found as well, having been upgraded from the previous Y:1903 pattern or simply receiving spare parts of the newer one.
Serial number
The serial number is an alphanumerical code with a number + letter suffix.
It can usually be found on the right hand side of the buttstock, receiver and barrel, as well as the bolt handle.
Acceptance and Ownership Marks
Accepted rifles will bear small marks symbolising St. George slaying the dragon, one of Greece's national symbols on various parts such as the receiver and bolt.
In addition to these, small St. George's crosses can be found on other smaller parts.
These will generally not be present on the later Breda contract parts, instead being replaced with a tiny star marking.
Stock Cartouche
The left hand side of the buttstock will carry a Greek army ownership branding.
These are often faded and thus rare to see in full today.
Sequestered Rifles
A number of examples without the contract year stamp or Greek crest are known in the collecting world. While documentation so far gave no clue as to how they came to be, it is not unlikely that they are sequestered examples that were just about finished, but did not receive the final stamps before being taken into inventory
When Europe spiraled into war in 1914, the Austro-Hungarian army, like most had a desparate need for rifles to arm the millions of men being mobilised.
Thus, in order to free up as many of the standard M.95 rifles in inventory for frontline use, the government ordered a halt on all arms exports, buying the guns and corresponding ammunition itself.
Through this, initially 5,000 rifles, called M.03/14 under Austro-Hungarian ownership were taken into inventory, serving with the Polish Legion, a volunteer Landsturm formation comprised mostly of native Poles. When it became clear that the war would drag on, an additional 4,000 were ordered until April of 1915, putting the total at 9,000 at least.
A sequestered example can be identified by checking the barrel underneath the upper handguard. The Vienna Arsenal accepted these with their Wn-14 mark.