Mannlicher-Schoenauer High Velocity

     Notes: Mannlicher-Schoenauer made its name in World War 1, the Franco-Prussian was, and even in the interwar period.  After World War 2 they concentrated on civilian design; even during the interwar period, many of their designs were for civilians.  The High Velocity is one of those rifles, produced from the early 1920 to World War 2. The rifle was named for the fast, heavy-caliber ammunition it fired. The High Velocity has a one-piece stock with machine checkering on the semi-pistol grip and fore-end; it is made from walnut.  External metalwork is blued.  Sights consist of a 3-leaf adjustable rear and a ramp front. It features a rotary detachable magazine and a butterknife bolt handle.  The fore-end of the stock tapers to about halfway to the end of the barrel, which is 23.5-inch inches.

Merkel RX-Helix

     Notes: Produced after the takeover of Merkel by Steyr, The RX-Helix represents the first “off-the-rack” rifle; it is not so much a handmade weapon as one that is made using mass production methods.  While you do not get as exact a rifle in all parts, it does allow for interchangeable parts, something Merkel has done little of over the years.  The barrel also has an interesting feature for a Merkel gun – it is both switch-barrel and uses a floating barrel once locked in.  (A special wrench comes with the rifle for this purpose.)  The action may be cycled without chambering a round, depending on how far the wrist switch is moved.  In addition, the bolt action of the RX-Helix is such that pulling the bolt back moves the bolt twice as far – for example, pulling back the bolt enough to cycle a .22 WMR round is enough to cycle a 7.62mm NATO round. The cocking lever is textured and is spoon-shaped.  The Safebolt system is used; the rifle can be fired only if a round is in place and the weapon is cocked, and the bolt down on a round.  Walnut root is used for the stock.  The action is fairly complicated; for example, a pair of squeeze flanges must be pulled to the rear, after which the magazine release may be pushed.  Despite the complexity of operation, field stripping is a simple three-step process with no tools requited.  Metal is blued.  The scope mount was designed especially for the RX-Helix, but can take most scope mounts.  Iron sights front and rear are provided. The action allows for any short action to be switched with another short action, and the same goes for magnum and standard-action rounds.  Barrel length is 20 inches for a short-action, 22 inches for a standard-action, and 24 inches for a Magnum action.  They are tipped by a target crown.

Repetier-Pirschubusche

     Notes: This was one of the first sporting rifles, or rifles of any kind, produced by Austria after World War 1.  They were basically produced in three production periods: 1921-34, 1934-40, and 1950-71, and can still be encountered in Europe.  The first models were chambered for .30-06 Springfield and exported exclusively to the US and Canada.  Later models were chambered for a variety of cartridges, with rounds such as 7mm Remington Magnum, .30-06 Springfield, 8mm RWS, and 9.3mm Swiss.  After World War 2 came a plethora of cartridges.  Most guns sold in North America had single triggers, but most sold in Europe had set triggers. 

Sodia Model 1963

     Notes: These rifles were known for low-cost, being built on refurbished actions and surplus wood.  They used an oddly-humped comb and a Bavarian-style cheekpiece.  The rifle uses a plain leaf-type rear sight, but other than its sometimes strange chamberings, is unremarkable.  The Model 64 Super Express is the same, but chambered for even more exotic cartridges.

Szecsei-Fuchs Bolt-Action Double-Barrel Rifles

     Notes: The company producing this powerful rifle is Fuchs Fine Guns; Joseph Szecsei is the designer.  Szecsei was in Africa in 1989. (sounds like he was hunting, which really bothers me, but it did result in an awesome firearm), and he was charged by three bull elephants, and was armed with a conventional heavy-caliber bolt-action rifle.  He survived the encounter, but it made him realize that a single-barrel rifle, even a repeating rifle, is simply not enough in some circumstances.  A double rifle might be even worse under such circumstances, with the need to reload in a manner which cannot be done quickly enough.  Semiautomatic rifles are illegal for hunting in most Southern African nations, and in many other countries in the world.

     So Szecsei set about to create a double-barreled bolt-action rifle.  Such a rifle could have put four rounds downrange pretty quickly in the circumstances he found himself in 1989. Yes, it would be complicated and heavy, but if he ever found himself in Africa in that situation again, he would probably be able to handle the encounter much more easily.

     To lighten the weapon, Szecsei used much titanium in the construction of his new rifle, including in the receiver and most of the action.  The magazine is a double magazine of course, with right and left halves that carry ammunition for each barrel and receiver; the twin magazines are loaded as one unit into the rifle.  The gun has a double trigger assembly, one trigger to fire each barrel; the front trigger fires the right barrel, while the rear trigger fires the left barrel. The triggers are far enough apart that one is unlikely to accidently fire both barrels at once, yet close enough to allow the barrels to be fire in rapid succession.  The cocking handle cocks both bolts, and feeds from both magazines. The external metalwork, in most cases, (except for the barrel) is covered in beautifully-engraved and detailed hunting scenes; Fuchs will change the hunting scenes for other hunting scenes, scrollwork, or no engraving.  External metalwork is also gold-plated. Above the receiver is a raised Picatinny Rail which is removable and is made of dark-finished titanium. Essentially, each rifle is a work of art as well as a firearm, and each is handmade by Szecsei and his team at Fuchs. The stock is of Turkish Grade I walnut, with a dark polyurethane varnish finish for weatherproofing, and there is a large hollow space inside the butt to further lighten the weapon. The stock has a raised cheekpiece and a thick rubber recoil pad.  Stock to metal joining is flawless. Barrels are 23.6 inches long each. Artwork on the rifles is coated with a thin, ionized proprietary material that Fuchs says will allow the artwork to endure for “hundreds of years.”

     The original such rifle that Fuchs put on the market was in .470 Capstick chambering, but at Fuchs’ request, Szecsei designed rifles in other calibers as well. Szecsei also experimented with rifles in .458 Winchester Magnum and even .577 Nitro express, but rejected them as having too much recoil. I have included those chamberings as well as a “what if.”

     The prices below – well, they are T2K prices. A version chambered for .416 recently sold at auction for $78,000.  The T2K prices will definitely not reflect the true value of these weapons.

     Except for the chambering and modifications required for that chambering, the rifles are identical in most respects for game purposes. The Celtic, also known as the DBR 48, uses a two or four-round magazine, with the magazines being made of polished titanium. It has a ramped blade front sight and micrometer-adjustable aperture front sight. There is also a peep sight in the Scout position in front of the action. It is the “King of the line,” firing the powerful .470 Capstick round.  It is known for its longer tang and breech to handle the huge rounds it fires. The artwork on the external metalwork is inspired by a Celtic motif.

     The Mokume is in most respects similar to The Celtic, except for the barrel color and the artwork on the external metal.  It was voted “Weapon of the Year” at the 2020 SHOT Show. The “Mokume” moniker refers to the Mokume-Gane method of engraving weapons, a centuries-old method in Japan.  The method manipulates colors of metals and uses them, along with gold accents, to pattern the surface. The bolt handle is engraved with a snake curling around it, with a small ruby in the head of the bolt handle. Other areas of the receiver are decorated with big game, with the sun rising over them. The base of the magazine is decorated with a leopard; this engraving is done with a related art called Itame-Game. The stock is of root burl wood with a dark finish and a straight-in line construction.  The stock is highly-polished. On the pistol-grip wrist in a cap of 24-karat gold, with a frontstrap of engraved gold. The cap has an elephant.  The front sight ramp is decorated with elephants on one side and giraffes on the other, this insert is of mammoth ivory.  The Celtic may be considered a working gun of sorts, while the Mokume is more of a work of art, it would almost be a crime to take this gun on a hunt!

     The Big Five Royal Blue is of a slightly small caliber than the Celtic, but nonetheless of great power. The stock does not have a drop in in, being a straight-in-line stock, with a large cheekpiece.  The stock is finished in the usual manner, but has a deep maroon finish instead of a dark finish.  The receiver has engravings of the “Big Five” dangerous game in Africa; the elephant on the receiver is essentially a portrait of an elephant in a zoo in Zurich, and was honored at a firearms convention in Reno, Nevada in 2008 as the best engraving of an elephant on a firearm.

     The White Tiger is also a .416-firing rifle, but uses different artwork.  The magazine base has a tiger which is only spotted by its game when it is too late. The trigger guard and sling swivels are decorated with scrollwork which is gold-accented. The pistol grip wrist is mostly fine wood, but has a gold ring and on each side of the cap are a pair of tiger’s paws. The rear sight is decorated with a white tiger at the rear of the sight’s base. The sight has a spring-loaded half-moon sight; it is meant for short-range and low-light conditions as opposed to the standard peep sight. The White Tiger was voted the Gun of the Year at SHOT Show 2011.

     This Szecsei African Queen rifle is unusual in that it is an over-and-under rifle.  It is also considered a very delicate rifle; Szecsei recommends that this rifle be placed on the wall for display.  It can, however, be used as a working firearm, but it might not hold up as well as other firearms in its class. Some 50% of its parts are of titanium, including the action, end cap for the forearm, magazine base, and front sight base. The side plates depict a hers of elephants, with a background in contrasting gold.  The rest of the receiver is decorated by scrollwork.

     The Russian Five fires what is an intermediate round for a Szecsei rifle, but what is still a heavy, powerful round.  Also known as the DBR 46 has been designed for medium-large game in Africa and what would be large game in Europe and North America.  For a Szescei rifle, it is a lightweight. The external metalwork is finished in satin, and a fix-scale surface accented in gold. The underside of the magazine has a white gold tiger. The bolt and bolt lever and the pistol-grip wrist, has a Russian foliage design accented in gold.

     The Elephant’s Life is of a smaller, yet still powerful round.  The engravings are of hunting scenes and are accented with gold.  They are coated with a thin, ionized coating to protect them from skin oil, sweat, and damage in general; this is common to all artwork on Szecsei guns.

     The Blue Boy is characterized by it’s blued finish on almost the entire rifle, except on the controls, including the triggers, which are gold, and the manufacturer’s name and serial number, which are finished in gold.

     The Lion’s Dream is made for smaller dangerous game. It fires a smaller round, appropriate for the type of game is meant to hunt.  The rear sight is a dioptic sight, which allows more accurate aiming when the rifle is used without a scope.  The stock is a straight-in line stock, with a fore-end made of mammoth ivory and is decorated with the skeletal head of a lion.  On the sides of the end cap are live lion designs with sharp eyes.  On the top face of the receiver is an engraving of a gnu. The underside of the magazine has an engraved lion on the hunt. The pistol grip wrist is capped with mammoth ivory is engraved with a seated lion. The cap is coated with a glazing of thin sapphire glass.

     The Hummingbird is the light-caliber version, and it may chambered for one of four calibers. Szecsei wanted the Hummingbird to be a compact yet efficient, and as such it has a shorter receiver for the more compact round as well as a shorter 21.7-inch barrel. The barrel is stainless steel, and the front sight base is titanium. Most of the rifle is blued, though there is engraved scrollwork on the receiver.  The controls, including the triggers, are plated with gold.

     The experimental .458 Winchester Magnum and .577 Nitro versions were bases on the Celtic, but without the artwork.  I don’t know if the experimental prototypes still exist, but if they do, just imagine the RL price they would fetch…

* The twin magazines are unitary; they are joined together on a floorplate in one piece and may only be loaded 2+2-round magazines, or 4+4-round magazines.  They may, of course, be short-loaded (for example, if you are short on ammo).

** If both barrels are loaded, the shooter may fire a pair of bullets in rapid succession, in effect firing two times per round.  If both barrels are fired, the next fire action would be cocking by the weapon’s single cocking lever, and after that he is ready to fire again. One can cock the weapon with only one barrel having been fired, but then the spent cartridge and the live cartridge in the other barrel will both be ejected.