American Rifleman: Memorable mannlicher

Like most young lieutenants stationed in Germany in the middle '50s, I had my job and a page-and-a-half of so called "extra duties." One of them was being the custodian of the Landstuhl Air Base Rod and Gun Club.

It threw me into the German hunting community and we were expected to be good ambassadors for the United States, participating as much as possible and helping out in our local communities.

My only rifle was a Winchester 94not really the sort of rifle that the German hunters of that era expected to see on a hunt. Money was tight, and a new baby on the way made the purchase of anything almost impossible. Fate stepped in when the Friday Monte Carlo night became a regular feature at the Officers Club, and young lieutenants were hired on as the dealers. Our pit boss was the EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) officer and we were trained by a civilian on base who had some real gambling and casino experience. It meant that every Friday, after beer call, I would go work as a craps, blackjack or roulette dealer for however long people wanted to come hang around and play. At 10 bucks an hour, it was a much needed source of additional cash; my wife agreed that since I was giving up my Friday nights, I could use at least some of the extra money to go buy a hunting rifle.

I decided on a 1952 model MannlicherSchoenauer carbine in .30-'06 Sprg. topped with a Hensoldt 1.56X variable scope. It had fine crosshairs in the center surrounded by three heavy bars for the low-light shooting in Germany.

I took the hunting course, bought a German hunting license and paid for my mandatory liability insurance and for four hunting seasons practiced good conservation German style, shooting the poor bucks and sick animals, balancing the herds and generally showing my German hosts that I was a good hunter. It required lots of range practice because one-shot kills were expected.

My patience was rewarded in that fourth and final year with a trip to the GermanAlps where I was able to take a nice red stag and a really good chamois. I also won the countrywide drawing that year, which allowed me to shoot one of the six mouflon that were being harvested. The mouflon is the European version of our big horn and my sheep turned out to be the best shot in Europe in 1959. It won all of the trophy shows that I entered that next spring.

I still have the Stars and Stripes articles and best of all, I still have the rifle. It has since seen elk and mule deer in Colorado, antelope in Wyoming and although the rifle collection has grown, it is still the favorite. Incidentally, I also still have that understanding wife; that little girl is all grown up.

-Charles E. McManis, Nevada IRA