What is a 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser worth ?

$400.00

I wish I could have paid $135. I paid $400 for mine a couple years ago to use for vintage military shooting matches and felt it was a good price. Seems like prices are still in the same ballpark. An "all matching" rifle will be worth more to a collector, while an excellent bore will be worth more to a shooter.

It's value is highly dependent on condition, and some other factors. For a run of the mill shooter grade M96 with decent wood and metal finish, delrom is about right. But there are more desirable versions, and of course a beat up or poorly sporterized one will be worth far less.

My dad has a Obendorf made Swedish Mauser that he thinks is worth a lot even though it's been somewhat sporterized.

Matt;

The caliber as is, is just fine, what you need is a modern platform. Both my son & I shoot modern Swedes & they are fantastic in modern guns. He's shooting a CZ550 and I'm shooting a custom based on a Tikka action.

In my gun, I'm shooting a Sierra 140 grain GameKing at 2750 fps. The JBM Ballistics site says the round is still carrying well over 1100 ft. lbs. of energy at 500 yards. The gun will consistently shoot three shot groups at 100 yards in the .4 - .5 range. This is with a medium sporter weight barrel and a 10X scope. My son can ring the 600 yard 1 foot diameter gong with his just about any time he points it in that direction.

So, no need to switch calibers IMHO, just update the gun.

900F

Matt,
If it is not drilled and tapped already, I would recommend not doing so. There are scout scope mounts that do not alter the firearm but allow you to mount a scope sufficient for shooting at 100 yds or so if having a scope is essential. Using a scout scope also doesn't require a bent bolt. Mojo sights also makes peep type sights for Mauser 96's that some find useful that require no gunsmithing or permanent alteration of the original firearm.

Prices keep moving up on all these old milsurps and financially you would do better to sell it as is to a collector and spend the money on a new firearm rather than trying to convert an old warhorse. If you really want a sporter version, try Simpson's Ltd. (try online website) which did have quite a few nicely done sporterized Swedish Mausers for about $300-400, often in more modern calibers which is about what you would pay a gunsmith at the low end to d&t, restock, etc.

I love my three Swedes--carbine clone built from parts, m96, and m38 and their obvious workmanship, but they are of an era where 3-4 MOA accuracy was acceptable for the military. With careful work you can accurize them a bit more but they would require very expensive gunsmithing to match what you could buy off the shelf in a specific caliber that you like for much less. Converting these rifles to shoot modern high pressure rounds is also problematic--apart from new barrel costs, it has the carbon-steel technology of 1910. It is very good carbon steel and properly heat treated for the most part, but it was designed around a significantly lower pressure round than most of the new 6.5 rounds generate. Reaming out the chamber has similar problems if the barrel is original. Mauser also designed the receiver feed rails and bolt to feed the specific round that the military customer wanted. Changing the cartridge often requires gunsmith tinkering to get them to feed correctly.

A generic model 96 Swedish Mauser with an uncut stock, cleaning rod, etc. and in military form are now bringing $400 at the low end (good condition which for milsurps is a bit different than sporting rifles). All matching serial numbers add to the price. Model 96/38 (which the Swedes never called them) which are converted by the military around WWII to the shorter barrel length and stock bring $500-600 at the low end. Some variants of the m38 are bringing even more. Swedish 1894 carbines are now bringing $1000 and up, especially those with an German Oberndorf receiver. Just the stock for a carbine now brings about $500.

For the most part, the 6.5x55 gives little away to other cartridges for most hunting apart from bears, bison, etc. in North America. Good range, plentiful bullet designs, mild recoil, and relatively inexpensive for brass or loaded ammunition. Newer rounds may shoot a bit flatter due to being a bit faster and may fit a short action, but there is a reason that the Swede has persisted for over 100 years. It works.

Somebody out there used to sell original front sights for the M96. So I got a tall one from him and that brought the sights into agreement with my eyes and loads.

Easy cartridge to reload.

The M96 is really long.. but mild to shoot. I bought mine right after I got in the Army... so should have been 86-87. And I only paid $79 for mine!

G

BTW, Matt,
The Swede is a great cartridge for reloaders and you can often get better performance and accuracy if you are willing to tailor your bullet and powder loads to your specific rifle. Old rifles often have definite personalities and appalling accuracy can suddenly become quite good if you find out what your rifle likes. It is a bit cheaper too then buying a lot of factory ammo to try to find out what it likes. That for me is the fun of reloading these old warhorses. Barrels like sewer pipes can often shoot remarkably well until fouled and some are simply shot out.

Sarco is a good (esarco) is a good source for buying a tall front sight for zeroing at 100 yards as tulsamal says. Numrich also has front sights but they are in the original numbering system which you need a decoder ring (online is fine) to figure out which one.

If you're handloading, the only way you're gonna beat the venerable Swede is if you run the 6.5-284 (savage production) the creedmoor and 260 rem are nice too but you already have a rifle ready to be loaded for. You don't say what kind of hunting you do, but the cartridge is QUITE capable if you are. I wouldn't dream of selling one if I had it, throw on an adjustable aperture sight and I'd be comfortable taking shots out to 300 on deer sized game. If you're trying to retain original aesthetics, that'd be a decent option. Then, after you find yourself married to the ol gal, it might help you better decide what you think is really needed for improvement.

I saw a KOA sporterized Mauser in a shop a few weeks ago with glass, about $400. I would say $400 for a pristine unaltered example. I had a pristine M38 about 15 years ago. I think I paid about $150 for it. Long gone.

As a former Arkansan, the Swede will do just fine in those piney woods for the whitetail. BTW, Prvi Partisan makes pretty good ammo and brass for this cartridge. Even if you don't reload, save the brass and you can sell it to someone.

Here is where you find mojo peep sights for this rifle styled after the swede micrometer sights.
http://www.mojosights.com/sample-page/mausers/

Accumounts for good, no gunsmithing mounts, http://www.accumounts.com/swedish-mauser.html

And here is a Gunboards forum (military surplus rifle collects) on differing no-gunsmith S&K no drill and tap scope mount options and where to find them. One mount requires a slight bit of stock removal.

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?282880-S-amp-K-Mount-Question-(Instamount-vs-Scope-Mount)

For improving the trigger, huber concepts makes a drop in trigger with easy installation and no stock removal. Timney and Bold also make triggers but these may require relieving the stock internally (and a bit externally if needed.

One trick to preserve your collector status on those requiring stock removal (the Swedes stamped serial numbers even in the stock well and matching non-altered bring a premium), is to buy one of the copious aftermarket Mauser 96 stocks (bubbaed sporters, synthetic, etc.). Carefully pull the barrelled receiver from its stock and furniture, and then mount the barrelled receiver intact into the new non-collectible stock. Then you can relieve the non-collectible stock for a claw mount S&K which uses regular scopes instead of long relief scout scopes, glass bed or pillar bed the receiver, and add a good trigger, etc. but if you don't alter the receiver or barrel, it is always an easy job to restore it to military glory. All of this is readily doable home gunsmithing for about $200.

One potential fly in the ointment is the bolt if you are using long scopes. Some Swede bolts are bent while others are straight plus the safety on the Swede can interfere with the scope. You can find bent Model 96 bolts but the risk is that it will not headspace with your barrel--the armory trick is to have a supply and check each with a headspace gage--but you will not have perfect headspace without adjusting the barrel to the bolt. Scout scope mounting does not have this problem.

"...a good 6.5 caliber round for modern rifle loads..." The 6.5 x 55 Swede is that. Been used for Swedish moose hunting for eons. Your issue is your rifle is a milsurp M96(big assumption that it is an M96) that will drop in value if you scope it. Mind you, any 6.5 calibre hunting rifle will do nicely. Except for the Carcano, Jap and Rem Mag for varying reasons. Mostly availability of ammo/brass.
$400 is the approximate value of a bubba'd M96. A full military configuration M96 starts at about $600ish. Condition is everything, of course.
"...a modern 6.5x55..." Tikka T3. There was a Rem M700 Classic in the 6.5.
No sights on most new hunting rifles. Not all CZ's are Mannlicher stocked either.

Just to be clear, the S&K has two mounts for the Swede. One uses the existing rear iron sight as a scope base (which is also true for the Accumounts) for a scout scope setup which allows a long eye relief scope to be used. No drilling and tapping or permanent changes to the barrelled receiver is necessary. Depending on the scope length and type of mount, it may or may not partially affect loading and extraction. One of the S&K scope mounts uses a claw mounts similar to some old k98 wwii scope mounts but does not require any alteration of the receiver or barrel. It does however, require relieving the stock for the claws to get around the receiver. The Mojo aperture sights do not require any alteration and use the existing sight bases to work. That is why if you are going to alter the stock, it is probably better to alter a cheap stock that someone has already sporterized or use a synthetic--thus keeping the original stock pristine--if and when you would like to return it to military configuration. The Gunboards folks are great about giving good advice on particular milsurps such as the forum that I posted above. Most of them do not like molestation of pristine military surplus rifles through irreversible sporterizing though.

In many cases, you can use most existing small ring m93-96 sporterized stocks that sometimes require minor inletting. Since you live in Arkansas, I would suggest calling Bob at Bob's Gun Shops (http://www.gun-parts.com/mauserstocks/) who is in Royal Arkansas as he often has some pretty good prices on stocks that no one else seems to have in stock. He can be a bit slow in filling orders though but he does do it.

Matt;

The CZ 550 Fullstock does indeed have a Mannlicher type full-length stock. However, the 550 American is what you might consider to be a normal looking gun. Though you may wish to keep in mind that the 6.5 Fullstock is one of the more sought after CZ's you're going to run across. If you got one & didn't like it, the chances are very good you'd have no problems selling it for very nearly what you paid for it. My son sold his 550 American to get the 550 Fullstock.

900F

CB900F said:

Matt;

The caliber as is, is just fine, what you need is a modern platform. Both my son & I shoot modern Swedes & they are fantastic in modern guns. He's shooting a CZ550 and I'm shooting a custom based on a Tikka action.

In my gun, I'm shooting a Sierra 140 grain GameKing at 2750 fps. The JBM Ballistics site says the round is still carrying well over 1100 ft. lbs. of energy at 500 yards. The gun will consistently shoot three shot groups at 100 yards in the .4 - .5 range. This is with a medium sporter weight barrel and a 10X scope. My son can ring the 600 yard 1 foot diameter gong with his just about any time he points it in that direction.

So, no need to switch calibers IMHO, just update the gun.

900F

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I concur. I have a CZ 550 American. I'm pretty sure Sako makes a 6.5x55 with iron sights as does Mauser but they are pricey. If I had it to do over again I'd still get a 6.5x55 over a .260 or a 6.5 Creedmoor.

Matt Dillion said:

The gun would be for whitetail in south Arkansas.

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With no offense intended, the largest bullet I could see you needing for such mild game at mild distances would be a 125 partition(100/120 would still be quite sufficient, we're not talking elk here), nosler says you can break 2900 fps accurately with the Swede and barely break 2900 (with compressed loads) with the .308 spawn......you don't need a new cartridge, you just gotta straighten out the aiming system. Lotsa folks gave lotsa options for you, but should you decide to sell, I'm sure someone would make that easy for you too