Swedish M96

Very nice 96 Swede. The originals in nice condition have gotten a lot more valuable in the last 5 years. Make sure you clean the bore real good, some of the current Euro 6,5x55 ammo has corrosive primers. I gave some Yugo stuff stamped non-corrosive, to my Dad, it ate up a new barrel, in a rifle I built for him.

Picked up two 25+years ago. Big mistake, should of picked up six! One I had updated the other I left alone. The price tag is still on it $89.95. Great shooters!

Very fine rifles. No need to hot rod the 6.5x55 either. Great shooting cartridge.

Maybe the best milsurp cartridge out there for inherent accuracy, plus, the Swedes took excellent care of their guns.

I had two when they first starting importing them en masse, a '96 rifle, and a '38 short rifle, $89 and $79, both gone now, unfortunately.

Good luck with your new gun!

There are several models of the 95 style Swedish Mauser, the 94 Calvary Carbine bent bolt handle with15-16” barrel, the model 38 bent bolt handle with a 24” barrel, the Castle Rifle a 96 straight bolt handle with a 24” barrel made for government building guards and the 96 straight bolt handle with a 29” barrel.
P. O. Ackley rated the Swede as the very best of the 95 style Mauser for conversion. The steel itself is legendary and the Swede includes a firing pin collar to prevent ruptured primer blow back.
The 1-7.5” (mm to “ conversion) twist supports 85-160gr bullets. Varmit speed and accuracy and deer harvesting power. Most slower burning powders, similar to 4350 or 4831 work and the cartridge just works. The 140g Hornady Interloc with 4831 does real well and is a great balance of velocity and bullet for deer. Place the bullet and it simply kills beyond all expectations.
The Finns swear by the cartridge for every thing, stag through moose. Met three scientists here at the USAF R&D center.
My wife’s 96 Swede in 6.5x55

Armorer 101 said:

The steel itself is legendary....

Click to expand...

The Swedes provided the Germans with their own steel to fabricate the rifles for them.

I have only ever had one Swedish M-96 Mauser, and it's a Sporter now, but it's a pretty good rifle. Doesn't look like this now though. I put a 6x9 on it, and the ACSS equipped PA 1-8 went on the MVP Predator, seeing as how it fits the 5.56 much better.








Actually had to do some stock work too. Turns out the Boyd's stock kept the bolt handle up juuuust enough to keep it out of battery.
I took it out and was all like...

If you reload for it, keep the pressures down. That rifle was more or less designed for an issue round that was operating at 3000 atmospheres, or 43,000 psia.

M1896 Infantry Rifle 29' barrel Carl Gustafs mfgr 1903

17-Aug-06 T = 85 °F
143 gr FMJ 1986 Swedish Ball

Ave Vel = 2610
Std Dev = 14.38
ES = 45.59
High = 2633
Low = 2587
Number rds = 8



M38 Infantry Carbine 24" barrel
28-Oct-94 T ≈ 60 °F

143 gr 1986 Swedish Ball OAL 3.065" 47.4 grs powder average

Ave Vel = 2427
STD=22
ES = 62
Low = 2395
High = 2457
N = 10


M700 22" Barrel

143 gr Swedish Ball 1986 headstamp
2 Feb 2008 T = 54 °F

Ave Vel =2470
Std Dev =18
ES =48
High =2491
Low =2443
N =5

140 gr Hornady Spire Point 43.0 grs AA4350 R-P new brass CCI-200 OAL 2.990"
2 Feb 2008 T = 52 °F

Ave Vel = 2512
Std Dev = 27
ES = 72
High = 2547
Low = 2475
N = 5

Same load, a decade later, for comparison.

140 gr Hornady Spire Point (0.264") 43.0 grs AA4350 new R-P cases CCI 200 OAL 2.990" loaded 2-5-2000
2 Nov 2017 T=72 °F

Ave Vel =2531
Std Dev =14
ES =33
High =2540
Low =2507
N=5



140 gr Hornady SP greased 45.0 grs IMR 4831 wtd lot 2-22-2014 new R-P cases CCI 200 OAL 3.065"
2 Nov 2017 T=72 °F

Ave Vel = 2548
Std Dev =11
ES =28
High =2566
Low =2538
N =5

140 gr Hornady SP greased 45.0 grs H4831 wtd lot 01-06-2014 new R-P cases CCI 200 OAL 3.065"
2 Nov 2017 T=72 °F

Ave Vel = 2419
Std Dev = 31
ES = 88
High = 2477
Low = 2389
N = 8





three shots proves nothing about accuracy, but it is the internet standard.



I got the 140 gr bullet with 43.0 grs IMR 4350 load from a 1950's American Rifleman article which claimed it was a duplicate of Swedish ball ammunition. Velocity wise, it is a bit faster, but I think it is safe. Shoots well in more than one rifle. This is a group with a featherweight M70, not exactly a target rifle, but good enough at 300 yards.




This load is probably a little too hot for a Swedish service rifle, given the velocity is above what I received with a service load. However, IMR 4831 looks to be a real champ in this cartridge. This is at 300 yards, and I think a sub 5 inch ten shot group at 300 yards is pretty darn good for a sporter rifle.



what I mean by greased. I dip the bullet into a grease, it gets all over the case, and I shoot it.



I believe it cuts down on barrel fouling and the once fired case comes out the chamber stress free, and perfectly fireformed.

As far as bolt action milsurps go, they are at the top of the heap. Between the starting design (Mauser bolt), the worksmanship, the cartridge, and the condition they were left in, they are simply the best.

OP, beware!! My M96 Carl Gustav was the first bolt-action milsurp I ever bought. Then I couldn't stop with just one .... now I own 28 bolt-action milsurps in 13 different calibers. Keeping all those rifles housed, fed and exercised is a real challenge!!

Welcome to the rabbit-hole!!

Speedo66 said:

The Swedes provided the Germans with their own steel to fabricate the rifles for them.

Click to expand...

I do want to comment on "Swedish steel" and legendary status. Swedish iron was, and probably is, lacking in phosphorus. That made it very excellent starting material for the plain carbon steels used in historical periods. Bessemer made a revolutionary blast furnace, after the American Civil War, and it turns out, he used Swedish iron. The converter worked well with Swedish iron and absolutely failed with anything that had phosphorus. That nearly bankrupted Bessemer. However chemistry was advancing too, and someone figured out a solution: Spiegeleisen.

So in the 19th century and earlier, Swedish iron made a good steel, and probably still does,however the plain carbon steels of the era are weak and full of junk, compared to today's steels. The steels we have today are the best that have ever been. What was made in pre vacuum tube technology days was pretty much hit and miss on quality of composition, they were not using alloys, and the Swedes never used alloy steels in their service rifles. If you look at the material composition used, it are not much better than what is used today for rail road spikes. The high carbon rail road spikes. Low carbon rail road spikes can't be heat treated. Period steels are low grade, low strength, highly varible in comparison to modern alloy steels. And as such, they are not super anything.

And no one should think that these old guns can be hot rodded because in the 19th century the reputation of Swedish iron was good. I am sure the Swedes could have shipped their steel to the Germans to use in rifle manufacture if they wanted. I will bet the Swedish steel and German steel were all made in the same primitive era mills, no one had a space ship in a shed and used alien technology.

This vacuum tube was 50 years into the future. It is WW2 or into the 1950's. I don't think any vacuum tubes were around in WW1, certainty not as advanced as this one:





the 1907 Kiblinger runabout !



1910 Studebaker Dump Wagon. Horse drawn, used to haul sand, gravel. Cargo dumped through trap doors in bed of wagon. State of the art construction vehicle.

Very nice M96. I dearly love mine. It really shines with 140 grain match bullets loaded LONG. I have to chase the throat a long ways in mine, probably due to the 160 FMJRN "cruise missiles" being the original military projectile.

With shorter loadings, it is accurate, but it gets to the ridiculous point with the minimal freebore load.

I have had issues with 123 grain match bullets not making it to target at 200 yards. Issue occurred with both the Nosler CC and Hornady A-max. Both would occasionally "poof" around the 150 yard mark, with a visible puff of grey smoke and double orange disks coming up on the target. Spoiled a couple of clean prone strings in vintage matches, including a regional CMP championship before I figured out the problem. I do most of my load development in the colder months, and the problem only surfaced in warmer conditions under extended shot strings/hot barrel.

As above, it is unwise to hotrod the loading, and unneccesary IMHO. I've found IMR 4350 to be my sweet spot with 140 grain match bullets. I used to run them warmer, but backed down to 41 gr after I obtained a taller front sight and brought the zero into heel at 200 yards with the softer load. Accuracy between the 2 was indistinguishable.

I shoot many Swiss rifles, also renowned for their accuracy, but none of them can beat the Swede in terms of raw grouping potential, and they do fall behind at 200 yards and 300m when the wind kicks up. Mine did used to walk a bit as it heated up. Some very gentle sanding in the barrel channel fixed that issue. From a rest, it is capable of cleaning the 1 MOA 300m INT target.

Used many Swedes. 2 Winchesters, one 96, and one SAKO. All outstanding rifles.

Random 8 said:

Very nice M96. I dearly love mine. It really shines with 140 grain match bullets loaded LONG. I have to chase the throat a long ways in mine, probably due to the 160 FMJRN "cruise missiles" being the original military projectile.

With shorter loadings, it is accurate, but it gets to the ridiculous point with the minimal freebore load.

I have had issues with 123 grain match bullets not making it to target at 200 yards. Issue occurred with both the Nosler CC and Hornady A-max. Both would occasionally "poof" around the 150 yard mark, with a visible puff of grey smoke and double orange disks coming up on the target. Spoiled a couple of clean prone strings in vintage matches, including a regional CMP championship before I figured out the problem. I do most of my load development in the colder months, and the problem only surfaced in warmer conditions under extended shot strings/hot barrel.

As above, it is unwise to hotrod the loading, and unneccesary IMHO. I've found IMR 4350 to be my sweet spot with 140 grain match bullets. I used to run them warmer, but backed down to 41 gr after I obtained a taller front sight and brought the zero into heel at 200 yards with the softer load. Accuracy between the 2 was indistinguishable.

I shoot many Swiss rifles, also renowned for their accuracy, but none of them can beat the Swede in terms of raw grouping potential, and they do fall behind at 200 yards and 300m when the wind kicks up. Mine did used to walk a bit as it heated up. Some very gentle sanding in the barrel channel fixed that issue. From a rest, it is capable of cleaning the 1 MOA 300m INT target.

Click to expand...

I shot a M96 in CMP matches for many years, and it was one of my most accurate rifles. The open rear sight and the straight stock made things difficult as I grew older so I finally moved on. As with @Random 8, mine developed a walking condition as it heated up that required some Kentucky windage to keep it in the X ring. I loaded 140 gr. match bullets over IMR4831. A buddy of mine shot 123 SMK's and had bullets disintegrate similar to @Random 8.

As for the steel the receivers were manufactured from, it was Swedish tool steel that was probably the finest in the world in that period. The rifle was designed by Mauser around the 6.5 x 55 cartridge and is fully capable with that. To expect it to handle hotter loadings, IMO, has little to do with the steel quality but the design of the locking lugs for the intended use. Mauser beefed up the receiver design with the M98 to the strength that we are accustomed to in modern rifles. Both M98's and M1917's are often rechambered for magnum cartridges and both were manufactured with wartime production steel.

Great caliber, hits like a .308, recoils like a .243. Below is my Sako Finnlight with a cow elk taken with it here in NM.

Laphroaig said:

As for the steel the receivers were manufactured from, it was Swedish tool steel that was probably the finest in the world in that period. The rifle was designed by Mauser around the 6.5 x 55 cartridge and is fully capable with that. To expect it to handle hotter loadings, IMO, has little to do with the steel quality but the design of the locking lugs for the intended use. Mauser beefed up the receiver design with the M98 to the strength that we are accustomed to in modern rifles.

Click to expand...

Tool steel? Tell me the alloys in the steel, and what makes it a tool steel? As for being the finest in the world at the time, don't project back today's technology and think it existed then. The Kaiser did not have a cell phone.

Both M98's and M1917's are often rechambered for magnum cartridges and both were manufactured with wartime production steel.

Click to expand...

It is dangerous advice to offer to people to use those early actions in cartridges other than they were designed for, and at pressures they were not designed for. Those period actions were not made out of "tool steels", but low grade plain carbon steels, however the M1917 was an exception. And yet, under pressure of "get it out the door" and a non stable workforce and production line, I am going to claim that they are not appropriate for magnum cartridges.

Thoughts on my sporterized Springfield M1903?

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6546703#post6546703

I've experienced a catastrophic receiver failure. I will tell you flat out it's NOT something you EVER want to happen.
Over 100 stitches in my face/neck, shattered jaw that was wired shut for 12 weeks, a hole in my neck to breath through, weeks of missed work, weeks of being fed through a straw, lost 20-25% of my body weight, permanent nerve and tissue damage resembling the effects of a light stroke.
Hop right on that train Dude cause my seat is empty.

One of the "glass hard" P17 actions re-barreled to a belted magnum. Those actions are some of the strongest known(sarcasm). Some of the "over treated" ones are really strong right up to the point when they grenade.


Let us differentiate between material properties and process controls. Sure, the nickel steel of the M1917 would have had superior material properties to the plain carbon steels of the era, but, only if the metal was originally of good quality and the steel was not burnt during production. Neither of these is particularly true for M1917’s.

Howe’s book “The Modern Gunsmith” has a whole chapter on steels. In that chapter is a warning not to chamber M1917 barrels to magnum calibers.

]If the caliber 300 Magnum cartridge is chambered in the U.S. Model 1917 Enfield rifle, meant for the caliber 30-06 cartridge, the change is very apt to make a bad gun barrel blow open, particularly if the metal should contain any small pipes, segregation's, or abnormal changes in the structure of the metal form the surface to the bore near the breech. Those making such changes may not know that the steel produced at the end of the First World War was not so carefully selected as gun-barrel steels are today

Firstly, no one should expect that war materials were built under any incentive system than get them out the door. Then, the manufacturing technology of WW1 was a pre vacuum tube technology, and it is likely perverse incentives were in place. I read somewhere a post by someone who knew a forge shop worker at Eddystone. The workers in the forge shop were paid piece rate. If they cranked up the forge furnace temperatures, they could stamp out parts faster. Yes they produced bad parts, but they got paid more money doing that. Incidentally, I was told Springfield Armory forge shop workers were also paid piece rate.

While the material selection for the M1917 was better than the Mauser, the M1903, even Lee Enfields, it does not mean much if the nickel steels had a lot of slag and inclusions and was burnt in the factory.

This is very interesting as the poster found documents about the 1917 in the National Archive


Check your M1917's for safety issues. Eddystones especially..

https://forums.gunboards.com/showth...917-s-for-safety-issues-Eddystones-especially

Slamfire said:

.........

what I mean by greased. I dip the bullet into a grease, it gets all over the case, and I shoot it.

View attachment 1034677

I believe it cuts down on barrel fouling and the once fired case comes out the chamber stress free, and perfectly fireformed.

Click to expand...

Are you serious?

I remember trying to buy one of those a long, long time ago. A local guy opened a small gun shop. I saw an ad somewhere for 6.5x55 M96 surplus rifles for something like $69.95, so I asked him to get me one. I kept going back, week after week, and he kept saying it hadn't come in yet. That son of a gun never ordered it.

The whole deal soured me on that rifle and even though I later got my own FFL, I never picked one up. Looking back, it's one of the few rifles I regret not purchasing when they were cheap.

My first rifle was a M96 from Century Arms. Still got it. Still load for it.

dcloco said:

Are you serious?

Click to expand...

Absolutely. Fired tens of thousands of greased rounds, and if 22 lr match ammunition is added in, maybe 100,000 rounds.

I've got an M94, a couple of M96s (Bubba's and stock) and an M38.
I only fire original 6.5 ammo loaded to original specs through these rifles.
I have plenty of modern rifles made of modern steel if I need something more powerful.
Yes, Swedish steel was world class right through the 1940s - for making extremely hard precision ball bearings.
They even smuggled it by submarine to Britain during WWII for making critical parts for the Norden bombsights.
That doesn't mean that this steel is up to modern standards for resilience, just hardness... .

Slamfire said:

Tool steel? Tell me the alloys in the steel, and what makes it a tool steel? As for being the finest in the world at the time, don't project back today's technology and think it existed then. The Kaiser did not have a cell phone.

Click to expand...

I read the tool steel thing somewhere, and no, can't really quantify the alloy or any mechanical properties.

There are probably thousands of people worldwide who think every day about ways to make steel better. Mostly ways to make it cheaper and faster, but I'm sure some concentrate on metallurgy. So it does seem logical that overall steel quality has improved over the past 100 years. And steel can be made today, if the specifications dictate, that was better than Swedish "tool" steel of 100 years ago. Please don't tell me though, that all steel made today is better than the receivers on Swedish Mauser rifles, and supply some specific data to support that if you insist. You could literally hear 1960's vintage cars rust as they sat in your driveway.

I personally believe that craftsmen have lived in the past that could produce specialized heats of steel that rival anything used in modern firearms. Swedish Mauser receivers being such a case.

Laphroaig said:

The rifle was designed by Mauser around the 6.5 x 55 cartridge and is fully capable with that. To expect it to handle hotter loadings, IMO, has little to do with the steel quality but the design of the locking lugs for the intended use.

Click to expand...

dcloco said:

Are you serious?

Click to expand...

Unfortunately he is.

Smart move is to ignore him or he'll start to expound...