Just Bought a 6.5x55mm Swede Mauser

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mordechaianiliewicz

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I went on a little day trip to Junction City, and a friend of mine introduced me to a little small town gun store between Manhattan KS, and "The Junk."

It was a nice little store, albeit a little dusty. We had a little discretionary income, and I picked up a Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55mm courtesy of my girl. It sits in a black composte stock and has been drilled and tapped and has scope rings (I'm thinking of hooking up a cheap Bushnell scope for it).

What I'm wondering is How hard is it to get the ammo?

They only had a box of it there, which I bought. Has WOLF's new gold line got it? I'd order it 300-500 rounds at a time. Is there any surplus available from Sweden?

Also, what are the ballistics of the cartridge like? And, how accurate are these guns on average?

Mine has a bent bolt, and a flash hider (I don't know if that is original or not), please, give me some advice as to what this gun is like.
 
Federal loads it, and ammoman has a reasonably good price on it. Samco still stocks some Swedish surplus, S&B and Wolf also sell the caliber.

It is pretty much identical to 260 Remington in ballistic terms.

The flashhiders are there to cover up the muzzle threads put there by the Swedes for attachment of a blank shredder.

Swedish Mausers are typically VERY accurate with ammo they like. Mine HATES Remington and shoots it into pie-plate sized groups at 100 yards. It likes Federal and the Swedish surplus and will do under an inch with them.
 
I have identical rifle with leupold bases and scope. Barrel shortened to 24 inches and recrowned. Has this stock because exwife broke sectionized, pilar bedded one. Wonderrful rifle. All sons and I have harvested many deer and hogs. [email protected]
 
Check out Cabela's for the Wolf Gold line of ammo (basically Prvi Partizan, a Serbian ammo company of high quality.) They sell the 6.5 Swedish for $10 for a box of 20, I bought 200 rounds a month or so ago.

I have a couple of surplus Mausers and they are great rifles. Low recoil and great ballistics, the 6.5x55 round is a 1000 yard round with the right equipment. :cool:
 
any gunshow worht it's wieght in salt will have it wolf, plus several other mfgrs, plus should also have lots of milsurp. who redid yours, kimber, legacy, howa,?
Man youwill love that thing . Those 120 to 140 grn bullets are looonnng, like a spear,and the wind just doesn't move 'em . Plus mild recoil.
 
6.5X55 is a great excuse to get into reloading. Then you can shoot it for under $6 per 20.
 
Check Cole's Distributing or AmmunitionStore.com for FNM.

It's factory ammo, and often rather cheap.

hillbilly
 
I have a Swedish M38 bentbolt and love it. It shoots absolutely flat and accurate; I get groups I can cover with my hand at 100yds with original iron sights. Bullet is similar to a .223 in ballistics/trajectory. I use the white box, think it is FNM? Get it at gun shows.. kinda pricey, if I reload someday it will be swedes dies I buy first, save all my brass.
My bentbolt Swedish Husquvarna M38 is my favorite rifle. I put a AK shoulder strap on it and a flash suppressor that threads right onto the bullet breaker threads on the M38 barrel.
 
I own 3; an 1898 Oberndorf-produced 96, a 1916 CG model 94 which is my preferred hunting/scout rifle, and a KBI/Kimber Frankenrifle built from a 1922 CG.

As recoil is fairly benign, you can use just about any scope you wish, but don't scrimp too much. You'll want to take advantage of the inherent accuracy of the rifle. A good Simmons, Bushnell, or better Tasco will do fine.

See if you can't start reloading with a Lee Loader. Beats sitting around doing nothing. The Swedish surplus ammo is corrosive as yesterday's coffee. Stay away from surplus Swede ammo. Hunt around- Cheaper Than Dirt almost always has some good new ammo. I used to shoot Hansen, and I think S&B makes it now, too. Federal makes premium ammo, which would be a good basis for rolling your own.

Enjoy, but beware. A good Swede is addictive and they multiply in your safe.

Regards,
Rabbit.
 
Rabbit,

You sure about the Swedish surplus being corrosive? I've not heard that before.

There may be some corrosive 6.5x55 floating around out there (I don't know about all the makers) , but I believe the Swedish surplus ammo is all non-corrosive. The only exception I'm aware of are the 6gr gallery rounds that were available for awhile.

I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that the Swedish surplus I have is not corrosive. I just pulled out my Model 38 which I shot some years ago and put away without cleaning the bore (I know, I know... :eek: ). The bore is slightly fouled as expected but shows absolutely no sign of corrosion.
 
Is there any surplus available from Sweden?
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There used to be, and it was dirt cheap and high quality, but it was outlawed by one of our illustrious presidents because it's steel core. I bought some of the last of it just after the ban went into effect. You can no longer buy Swedish Mil Surplus ammo in that caliber. You may thank our masters in Washington, DC for that. Yes, Wolf has it in their premium line, but lead core and much more expensive than the Swedish Mil Surplus used to be.

PS: The reason they don't want us peasants to have steel core rifle ammo is that the Federal Government has developed body armor for their storm troopers that will stop all but steel core rifle ammo. They want to reserve the option of taking your weapons one day, and if we all had stockpiles of steel core rifle ammo, that would be more difficult for them.
 
I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that the Swedish surplus I have is not corrosive. I just pulled out my Model 38 which I shot some years ago and put away without cleaning the bore (I know, I know... ). The bore is slightly fouled as expected but shows absolutely no sign of corrosion.
Click to expand...
The surplus ammo I have for it are NOT corrosive at all. I think it was late production.
 
Thanks!! Yea he was my 1st bear 300# dressed weight. Cinnamon bear. I paid $600 for the taxidermy fee 17 years ago.
 
I've been to that gunshop many times. They have quite a few military surplus rifles for a bit too much money. I remember seeing lots of Czech VZ24s and Turk mausers in the back room. Up front are quite a few military semiautomatics and higher priced collectibles. I hope you got a good deal on the Swedish mauser. They are great firearms known for their accuracy and flat shooting ammo. I pay about 40 cents per round for 6.5x55 ammo.
Did you visit any of the other area gunshops? Any other military surplus seen? If so, do I need to make another trip up that way?
 
Thankyou for all your responses, it sounds like I got a really nice rifle. The trigger breaks real clean, (better than my Mosin), and I'm getting a Bushnell or Simmons scope for it.

1-2 moa for a milsurp! Wow. That's like the holy grail. That's worth the money most definitely.

Buy the way GD, the gun was $169 before tax and the guy seemed to not know what he was looking at. I hope that was a good price.

I might get into reloading now.

Oh, also GD, I didn't go to any other area gun stores. I didn't know there were other gun stores in the area. The only other place in Kansas I regularly go to outside of the KC metro area is Atchison, KS, and they don't have a single gun store in that town.
 
Hawkeye,

Samco still sells Swedish Surplus 6.5x55mm.

I don't really think that steel core ammunition exclusively for rifles is banned from sale or import unless it falls under a source ban (like Chinese ammunition). Steel core pistol ammunition is considered to be armor piercing (AP) and is therefore restricted, but I've not heard of similar restrictions applying to rifle ammunition.

7.62x39mm is a horse of a different color. Because someone got the bright idea of making a pistol in this caliber, it was classified as a pistol caliber for the purposes of AP definition.
 
I was wrong...

After checking my resources, I was wrong.

When you can find surplus Swede ammo- wooden bullet, plastic bullet- blanks- non-corrosive.

even the primers, as far as I can tell are non-mercuric.

Wow.

A red letter day.

Shoot that Swede, and enjoy!
 
You paid a decent price for that rifle. Perhaps he has lowered his prices!
Enjoy!
 
They are beauties! Here's my 1903 Gustav. Silky smooth action, wood and metal both in great shape. Sparkling bore. Original sight holdover chart. That 6.5x55mm is a joy to shoot. Can barely feel the recoil. The trigger is very nice, with a standard military takeup then a crisp break at about 4-5 lbs. This rifle has the micrometer sights She's been very accurate (~1-1/2 " with Wolf Gold).

My other Swede is a 1900 Obendorf.

vfko60.gif
 
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