Steyr · Rifle
Portuguese Mannlicher M1896
Bolt action · 6.5x53mmR · introduced 1896
Also known as Espingarda 6,5 mm m/896, Portuguese Contract M1896 Mannlicher, Steyr Mannlicher m/896
About the Portuguese Mannlicher M1896
The Portuguese Mannlicher M1896 (Espingarda 6,5 mm m/896) is a turn-bolt repeating rifle chambered in 6.5x53mmR, built by Österreichische Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft (Steyr) on the same pattern as the Mannlicher M1893 supplied to Romania. The Kingdom of Portugal ordered roughly 12,500 of these compact rifles and carbines from Steyr, some in 1896 for the Navy and Cavalry and the balance in 1898 for the Artillery. It feeds smokeless 6.5mm cartridges from a five-round en-bloc clip loaded into a fixed central magazine, marked with the 'CI' monogram of King Carlos I of Portugal.
Every Portuguese contract M1896 carries the 'CI' cypher of King Carlos I over the chamber; the monarch would be assassinated in Lisbon in 1908, and the rifles bearing his monogram outlived the very monarchy that bought them.
Portuguese Mannlicher M1896 specifications
General
- Type
- Rifle
- Action
- Bolt action
- Firing mechanism
- Striker-fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Calibres
- 6.5x53mmR
- Magazine capacity
- 5 rounds
- Magazine
- En bloc clip
Dimensions
- Barrel length
- 610 mm (24.0 in)
- Overall length
- 1105 mm (43.5 in)
- Weight (empty)
- 3.80 kg (8.38 lb)
Barrel
- Rifling
- Right hand
- Grooves
- 4
Materials
- Barrel
- Steel
- Receiver / frame
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- blued
Performance
- Effective range
- 500 m
History
- Introduced
- 1896
- Discontinued
- 1898
- Production status
- Out of production
- Country of origin
- AT
- Designer
- Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher
Features
- Turn bolt action
- En bloc clip feed
- Self ejecting clip
- Smokeless powder
- Short rifle configuration
Safety
- Wing safety
Ordered as a lighter, clip-loading replacement for the earlier tubular-magazine Kropatschek rifles in Portuguese cavalry, artillery, and naval service. Manufactured and dated by Steyr (marked 'STEYR 1896'). Later supplanted in front-line service by the Mauser-Vergueiro m/1904.
This is a variant of the Mannlicher M1893.
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