Swedish mauser:
I'm looking to buy a Swedish mauser bolt action surplus rifle in the future. This will be to shoot. I would like to have the best condition that I can afford. Any particular model that you would recommend? I am not a collector and I am not looking for some rare expensive rifle. What model would you recommend? Thanks.
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The Model 96 Infantry rifle is the most common and most affordable. They are excellent very accurate shooters, still around in quantity at reasonable prices.
Before you buy one do a lot of researching on line, there is a lot of information and web sites dedicated to them. GOOGLE is your friend.0 -
You can also find some of these old rifles that were sporterized that make good shooters to. I still have my Uncles sporter that he bought back in the Mid 50's. This one was sorta interesting, I noticed what looked like bluing that was wearing off at the tip of the barrel on his rifle. I was discussing the rifle with one of the members of the Swedish Mauser Forum and he asked me if the rifling in the barrel went all the way to the end of the barrel which I thought was a strange question but as it turned out that's the reason mine had that look of losing it's blue at the tip of the barrel. He said when these guns were brought to the US back in the 50s the barrels were approx. 3/8" to short to make the 16" min. length limit for rifle barrels at that time. In order to make the barrel longer a 3/8" piece of steel had to be machined and welded on the end of the barrel to make it long enough to pass inspection. When they touched up the tip of these barrels the bluing didn't hold up as well as the original bluing which is the reason for the bare looking tip on my rifle. When you look down the end of the barrel you can see where the rifling stops at where this piece of barrel was welded on.
The rifle in the front of the photo is the 6.5mm Swedish Mauser sporter and the one in the rear is an 03-A3. They both are great shooters.
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Smitty, your post is interesting in that the rifle you mentioned is the Swede 94 CARBINE--the 96 rifles were not imported then, yet. You could get the carbines almost anywhere back then. Sears, Montgomery Ward, Western Auto all had them and they were also available mail order. Most sold them for $29.95. I just watched one sell on the auction side for $980!!
Incidently, while you are correct that the added collar was to make the barrel length leagle, the required length in those days was 18". I beleive it was changed to 16" to make the US M1 carbine leagle to own. As you probably know, shotgun barrels are still required to be 18".0 -
shooterone...great question! As Rufe says you really can't go wrong with any Swedish Mauser. They are still very much available on the auction side of GB and from Sarco and Samco and others. But they are starting to dry up so now is a good time to buy one. They come in three styles...the M94 which is the short carbine with a turned down bolt. It is the most rare and the most expensive ($400+) The standard battle rifle was the M96 which is rather long and very accurate, probable the best (most accurate) out of the box military rifle in the world. Almost all have a straight bolt, except those that were modified for sniper work (the most expensive..$1200+). The M96's are still around in great shape for $250+. The last is the shorter M38 which was produced right up to 1944 and are also still available at reasonable prices ($300+). Some M38 were cut down M96's but still have the straight bolt (and early dates) but the "real" M38's also have bent bolts like the M94's. It has been my experience that the M38's are not quite the shooters that the M96's are, probably due to the shorter barrel length. Suggest that you also learn how to read the stock disc which will tell you barrel and bore condition before you buy. The Swedish Mauser is the only rifle in the world that has this feature and it is very valuable. Congrats on a wise choice! Good shooting! 0 -
I picked up a M94 carbine that someone had "started" to sporterize and had hacked up the Military stock. I glass bed it into a Wood Grain Ramline stock, had my gun smith re-blue it, jewel the bolt and put on Williams peep sites. It's a nice light carbine for the brush. I then got the best Rifle I own in a Ruger MKII in 6.5 x 55 with a Leupold 2.5 x 8 x 32 VXIII. I'll go up to 300 yards no problem. Longest shot was 135 yards with Buck facing me. Gun shows seem to be the best source today to find the Swedes. Good Luck.... it's an excellent round![^] 0 -
The most important thing is to check out the brass disk on the stock. That will tell you the barrel condition. 0 -
I love the Swedish 6.5 x 55 rifles. Extremely accurate and easy on the shoulder when shooting from the bench. Lots of info on this website about military rifles. http://www.surplusrifle.com/ In the same catagory for accuracy I would recommend the Schmidt Rubin K31 7.5 x 55. I shoot rifle silhouettes from 200 to 500 yards with both of the mentioned rifles and they perform wonderfully. Their accuracy makes me look like I know what I'm doing. At 500 yards, to knock down the rams reliably with the 6.5 you need to load heavy bullets or make hits on the upper part of the target. The 7.5 knocks them down with authority! What the heck, you just need to buy one of each. You will love them both ! The last thing I would say is that the K31's have fantastic triggers. The Swede is a typical military trigger. 0
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