Geweer M.95

The Geweer M.95 is a dutch bolt action rifle from 1895-1943. It was the standard rifle in both the Netherlands and Dutch East Indies. The rifle is chambered in 6.5x53mmR and it is fed from a 5 round en-bloc clip. The rifle is often confused with the Mannlicher 95, they're not the same!

-History
After the invention of smokeless powder in 1886, every nation was searching for a small-caliber smokeless military rifle. The Netherlands modernized the M71 Beaumont to be fed with magazines as a temporary rifle while they were looking for a bolt action rifle. At this time the army didn't have the money to buy thousands of rifles to be field-tested, so the MOD looked at what other nations picked. The Netherlands chose the same rifle Romania adopted in 1893. The Mannlicher M1893, a bolt action en-bloc fed rifle. The Netherlands bought the first couple of thousand rifles with some slight changes and later the rifles were manufactured at Artillerie Inrichting.

-Mechanism
The M.95 (sometimes called Mannlicher) is a bolt action rifle and not a straight pull rifle (most people think its a straight pull because some people call it a Mannlicher). The action is the same as a Mauser 88, same 2 lug bolt and firing pin mechanism. The Magazine is the same as from a Mannlicher 95 (dimensions are still different). It's en-bloc fed and not from stripper clips. At the last round, the rifle poops out the empty clip.

-Service
The rifle saw action in WW2 (The Netherlands was neutral in WW1) and it was outdated, too heavy, too long, and not well maintained. There are stories of the rifles being really inaccurate etc. But the rifle was a real workhorse, it was reliable and worked well (for most soldiers). In the East Indies, the rifle was not that practical, jungle warfare with such a long rifle was impractical (the rifles not the carbines), and after the Japanese invasion japan used it to maintain the colony and after WW2, the dutch used the M.95 in small numbers. (Replaced by the SMLE and M1 Garand)