The bolt can be cycled and the action cleared with the safety engaged. Its sliding button blocks the trigger sear when pushed rearward (‘Safe’) and allows the trigger to ‘Fire’ when in the forward position, a red dot visible to the rear of the button. The safety is a two-position unit retro-fitted behind the rear tang of the receiver.
The barrel is pinned to the receiver in the usual way as with many of today’s factory-produced rimfires. It’s of a sporter profile, tapering from 21.4mm at the knox form to 15mm at the muzzle, the crown neatly finished in a recessed target-style fashion which would assist greatly in the accuracy stakes. This features another Steyr Mannlicher trait – the cold hammer forged unit with the forging ‘striations’ rotating along the length of the barrel which is just shy of 500mm and chambered for the. The receiver, bolt handle and shroud are treated with Steyr Mannlicher’s patented Mannox finish which also extends to the barrel. The bolt is highlighted by the trademark ‘butter-knife’ styled bolt handle which gives the rifle all the class it deserves, the bolt body highly polished. The cylindrical profile of the receiver is engraved on the left-hand facet with the maker’s name and country of origin as well as proof marks. The top of the action has an integral dovetail fore and aft of the ejection port, which at 11mm wide lets you mount the scope in a straightforward way. 22LR measures 190mm and is 30mm wide with a generous ejection port which permits unhindered extraction of chambered rimfire cases – fired or not. This has all the hallmarks of Steyr Mannlicher in that its profile seamlessly flows with no harsh edges or scalloped flats or slabs, the designers having taken their lead from the layouts that encompass the centrefire models and scaled them down accordingly to produce the action honed for rimfire calibres.
22WMR also available) with a neat Meopta Meopro 3-9×42 riflescope and rings to suit along with a selection of Winchester. Importer Winchester Australia supplied Australian Shooter with a Zephyr II rimfire in. Original Zephyr rimfires would certainly be collectables, standing side-by-side with Steyr Mannlicher’s centrefire rifles available after World War II. The much-respected Steyr Mannlicher of Austria last year released the Zephyr II rimfire rifle, a reincarnation of the original produced from 1955 to ’71. On the flipside we’re lucky to have some excellent firearms of bygone eras which appear now and then and are highly collectable and the popularity of post-war sporting rifles has led to a few manufacturers ‘re-birthing’ the classics of yesteryear. In the firearms marketplace, blink and you’re left behind.
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All the major players must keep apace of developments in materials-science and how to use this information to produce items that are not only superior to their predecessors, but as accurate as ever. The longevity of firearms manufacturers is something that can be attributed to the global popularity of shooting sports and hunting.