Shooting the RTI M1888/90 Mannlicher Rifle

[@brucevaughn2886]

Very interesting rifle. There are so many that are not commonly seen. Hard to believe that thousands upon thousands of them were made and yes, so few remain. Given the quality of the ammunition and the bore of the rifle, that is a very good group very well centered for windage. Elevation is easily corrected. Might want to consider hand loads. A flat base bullet will likely give better results in a worn bore.

[@usna98]

Thanks for watching! Unfortunately I don't get to shoot often, so it's not cost effective for me to get into hand loading (yet).

[@tfusilier44]

I gotta get out to the range as well. Hard to find the time. Great shooting, nice to have 8x50.

[@usna98]

Thanks! Yeah, it's definitely great to get out to the range, even if it's only a few times a year.

[@Toolness1]

Man, an hour and a half to the range. That's rough. Im thankful to have a friend with land I can shoot on and a couple public ranges within a half hour. When I go to a public range to minimize time changing targets I take a huge sheet of cardboard and tape it to the target stand and put 6 targets on it...it helps a lot when you have guns you're sighting in as well since you can see your hits even if they are way off target.

[@usna98]

Yeah, it's a pain, but a treat when I get a chance to go.

[@theblindsniper9130]

I am absolutely amazed that those rounds didnt tumble

[@usna98]

Me too, but glad they didn't, and this rifle ended up being really fun to shoot minus the bad surplus ammo.

[@WastelandArmorer]

Ive got a carcano that swallows bullets to the neck that they dont tumble. Its weird. Its not quite as bad as Blind Snipers long rifle though.

[@murraykriner9425]

Beautiful piece of handiwork from an artisan, or partisan that must have known his way with a graver. So few of these museum pieces still in existence, that collectors are sore with flexing their checkbooks to have a specimen like this. Thank you for sharing!

[@usna98]

Thanks for watching!

[@MidwesternFC]

Great looking rifle. Hope to add one to my collection some day. Until then, it was nice to see you enjoy it. Casto's has been nice to fill the void, expensive, but still nice to have.

[@usna98]

Thank you. I definitely want to get it back out to the range with the Casto's ammo.

[@RUSTYSURPLUS]

USNA i just had the same problem with my M43 Mauser and the Romanian surplus i had ..It was the Stricker spring. That ammo you have there is 1935 marked that just might be gone. You can see it in my last video i just made. THANKS for showing !

[@usna98]

Yep, bad ammo and weak spring.

[@matthewblack1981]

There $65 a box now, from what I know he is the only one doing 8x50 and there's a 3 year backlog for 8x50 dies for reloading. Someone should tell Steinel to start making some.

[@usna98]

Yeah, it's super pricey.

[@texascastblast5011]

Nice grouping, I’ve been working on some new loads for the 88/95 and 1890 so far 47gr of 4350 is money

[@usna98]

Thanks, and awesome...if I lived closer to a range I would definitely get into reloading, but I just don't go enough.

[@blueduck9409]

IMR 3031 is a very good powder in the 8x50 Mannlicher.

[@justinsargenti1573]

I got an actual 1890 w the safety but was missing some other small parts. Got lucky, gun was unit marked and matched to include the stock too. Real clean AOI stamp. Only significant issue was the bore, actually really good rifling just had a slight ring/bulge of about .1 mm 4 inches from the muzzle. Shoots fine at any rate just like yours, criminally underrated RTI offering

[@usna98]

Wow, awesome that you got an 1890...I wish they would sell them in a separate listing, but not sure they know how to tell the difference.

[@tomc6255]

I am probably gonna buy a Mannlicher rifle as my next rifle from RTI. I also got my carcano en bloc clips. They sent me to 2.

[@usna98]

Nice...hope you get a good one!

[@tomc6255]

@@usna98 Either mannlicher rifle or enfield mk4 on a Black Friday like before.

[@marklandwehr7604]

The thing to do when you get ammunition like that use your kinetic bullet puller reload ammunition with primer and powder that you know the source

[@usna98]

Yes, I would if I reloaded but I don't.

[@marklandwehr7604]

The problem with your ammunition not firing is a week spring inside the bolt stretch the spring someone probably left the rifle locked and cocked squeeze the spring until it doesn't have the force necessary

[@usna98]

Yes, I mentioned that in the video. Going to replace the spring.

[@karlhoffman1985]

Nice yeah finding this ammo is really hard.

[@usna98]

Thanks for watching!

[@GenerationKill001]

I am sorry to make the obligatory delayed sound/hangfire joke/observation but those were a hell of a bunch of hangfires! Poor joke aside, I truly enjoy your videos and seeing how you bring these pieces back to life! Go Navy! Beat Army!

[@usna98]

Thanks...there were way more hangfires that I cut out of the video.

[@fishcars8078]

I have both an original 1888 Mannlicher and an 88/90. I can't tell any real differences between the two except the side plates on the rear sight. Supposedly they also changed the chamber area slightly; hence why there are 8x50 and 8x52 cases. The case length doesn't really seem to matter in these so long as it's between 50 and 53mm or so. Anyways, I was wondering if you would happen to know if they changed anything with the action to strengthen it or did they basically just change the sights? Reason being, I know these aren't the strongest actions and found it odd that nothing was really changed as far as action strength when transitioning to smokeless powders. I would like to use the same loads in both of my Mannlichers if possible. As an aside, I do load my own ammo. Those loads from Castos Curios seem a bit stout for the wedge locks. I'd probably only fire those in the M95 Mannlichers. I think the loads for the wedge locks was a heavy 240-245gr moving about 1800-1900fps but those were with black powder and semi smokeless loads which have a gentle pressure curve, though I'm sure many of these wedge locks were fired with the later M93 ammo as well. Having multiple special cartridges in the same caliber being made and issued would be a logistics nightmare. I suppose other "weak" actions also made the transition to smokeless. Rolling block, Vetterli, Martini-Henry, M71 Mauser 6.5 conversions, the Gras 8mm conversions, etc... Liked and subscribed btw. You've done a good job restoring a lot of these arms.

[@marklandwehr7604]

I hear you can reload 4570 to make those casings

[@usna98]

Probably but I don't reload unfortunately (don't get to shoot enough).

[@bradjacks8743]

I recieved one without the bolt on side plates I don’t know if it’s an original 1888 rifle never converted or a 1890 rifle

[@usna98]

If the highest numbers on the rear sight are 18 on the left and 30 on the right it's a purpose built 1890. If they read 17 and 25, it's either an 88 or an 88/90 missing its side plates.

[@bradjacks8743]

It has 18 an 30 on rear sight base with no plates glad to know it’s a rare 1890 purpose built acceptance date ends is a 2 can’t make out the first part in mmm thinking 1892 but it might be 1912

[@usna98]

@@bradjacks8743 awesome!

[@resistanceremembered]

Great video! It’s nice to see these old rifles being fired. The ammo pouch is pretty interesting as well. I haven’t seen a lot of these single-cell pouches. Is it from WW1 or post-WW1?

[@usna98]

Thanks! I can't find any markings on the pouch, but as far as I can tell it is a WW1 era A-H pouch...single pouches were issued to mounted units.

[@rickwilliams5357]

What kind of ammo did you use, is it castos or handloaded? I've heard you should use low grain ammo with these since they are blackpowder tolerance built on the receivers

[@wagon9082]

Good Video

[@comradeblue9789]

I have a M1888/90 with the AOI stamp but also a bigger REC stamp? I have no clue what REC means and would like to know

[@usna98]

Though I don’t know if this is 100% confirmed, the thought is that RE and REC marks were applied to rifles allocated to Colonial Use before 1936. They switched to AOI after.

[@comradeblue9789]

@usna98 thanks m8!

[@tommyvercetti5112]

What kind of equivalency would you put those rounds in? .308, 30-06?

[@blueduck9409]

The 8x50 Austrian Mannlicher is comparable to modern 30-30 Winchester ammo. The black powder/ pyrodex loads, are a bit more stout.

[@usna98]

Thanks!

[@machetepanda966]

I have one... where did you get the rounds?

[@usna98]

Victory Surplus many years ago.

[@kevinbietry7527]

Is the muzzle counter bored?

[@usna98]

Nope

[@michaelseeley9879]

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing! Could we please get an updated tour of your gun room/overview of your AH collection? It’d be cool to see the developmental history from the Lorenz, Werndyl, to the mannlichers! This is one of my favorite videos of yours: kzbin.info/www/bejne/naqyoYpmmpZol7s

[@usna98]

Thanks! I actually haven't changed out my gun room much since that video was done. My plan was to rotate weapon eras/countries every so often, but I haven't gotten to that yet. When I do, I'll definitely post an update!

[@Pandrnchicken]

I wanted some of those castos, is it good quality?

[@usna98]

Unknown. Like I said, I've yet to try it.