Musgrave Mod 83
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 559 mm
- Weight, empty
- Not recorded
- Introduced
- Not recorded
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Musgrave Mod 83 is a South African bolt-action hunting rifle built by Musgrave of Bloemfontein around the company's Mod 80 push-feed action, a design blending Mauser and Winchester features. Fitted with a free-floating 22-inch barrel and a walnut or hardwood sporter stock, it was offered in popular plains-game chamberings such as the .308 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield. It formed part of the Musgrave 80-series sporting line produced until the original Bloemfontein operation closed in 1996.
Musgrave was founded in 1950 by South African target-shooting champion Ben Musgrave and his sons, who began by accurizing surplus military rifles before building a full line of hunting and target rifles that made Musgrave one of South Africa's most respected rifle makers.
The Mod 83 shares the Mod 80 push-feed bolt action and free-floating barrel. Model-specific dimensions such as weight and overall length were not consistently published and vary between individual rifles; the barrel length is reported as 22 inches.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Musgrave Rifles
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- South Africa
- Status
- Discontinued
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 559 mm
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Bolt action
- Firing mechanism
- Striker fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Capacity
- 5
- Magazine
- Internal
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Walnut
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 833 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 3371 J
- Effective range
- 300 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Free floating barrel
Push feed bolt
Hinged floorplate
Sporter stock
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barrel lengthAmong 166 .308 Winchester rifles | 559 mm | 559 mm | Near the median |
| Magazine capacityAmong 162 .308 Winchester rifles | 5 | 5 | Holds more rounds than about 70% |
Answers
Questions about the Musgrave Mod 83
What caliber is the Musgrave Mod 83?
The Musgrave Mod 83 is chambered in .308 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield.
How many rounds does the Musgrave Mod 83 hold?
The Musgrave Mod 83 holds 5 rounds, fed from an internal magazine.
How long is the Musgrave Mod 83?
The Musgrave Mod 83 has a 559 mm (22.0 in) barrel.
Who makes the Musgrave Mod 83?
The Musgrave Mod 83 is made by Musgrave Rifles (South Africa). It was designed by Musgrave Manufacturers and Distributors.
How does the Musgrave Mod 83 operate?
The Musgrave Mod 83 uses a bolt action, and its firing mechanism is striker fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- South African civilian hunters
- South Africa
Provenance
Confidence in this record
60%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/musgrave-mod-83' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "musgrave-mod-83", "name": "Musgrave Mod 83", "manufacturer": { "id": "musgrave", "name": "Musgrave Rifles", "countryCode": "ZA", "foundedYear": 1950, "website": "https://www.musgraverifles.co.za", "logoUrl": null, "description": "South African manufacturer of hunting and sporting rifles, founded in 1950 by target shooting champion Benjamin Musgrave, revived in 2009 after a decade of closure.", "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "updatedAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "version": "69391aa1514f37347cb0181fdeea2a5cd2b6af86f1b0c905d48bf2043b0e726e" }, "category": { "id": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "ZA", "year_introduced": null, "barrel_length_mm": 559, "weight_empty_g": null, "action_type": "bolt_action"}