Bought a Swedish Mauser, couple questions and pics.

[C-grunt]

I was down at the local Cabelas today spending my birthday money when I ran across a Swedish Mauser in pretty good condition. Looking it over there are minor marks and dings in the stock and some slight pitting on the bolt but the rifling looked good and the numbers matched except for the magazine baseplate and the cleaning rod.

Its got Carl Gustafs Stads Gevarsfaktori 1920 on the reciever top. The disk says Torpedam over Overslag Str, in the big section. 2345 over 901 in the middle section and 23 over 1 in the small section. Also on the stock in some red lettering "Lun (last letter is worn, possibly a "d" "g" or "q")."

So my questions are...

What type of Mauser is it?
Any other info I should know about it?
What to use to clean up the wood?
Also there is a screw on flash suppressor on the end, is that normal or something someone added?

Of course here are some pictures. Im not a good photographer and its late at night so they might be dark.

 

[cleardiddion]

Not too familiar with Swede's but I would put money on the fact that the flash suppressor is definitely an add-on and not a part of it's original military configuration.

 

[C-grunt]

Yeah I didnt think so. Ill have to hunt for a thread protector cap thingy.

 

[Deckard]

What you have there is a M96, the one with the long 29' barrel. I have one too and love it, the action is a solid as a rock and the accuracy is phenomenal for a rifle over 100 years old (mine's a 1904). As has been said that flash hinder is a recent addition, mine just has a short plain thread protector. Here's some good info http://www.surplusrifle.com/mauserswedish/index.asp

The brass disc gives a lot of information from the Swedish armorer who handled it.

 

[Jubjub]

The original device that the muzzle threads are intended for is a blank firing adapter for training. The blank rounds used have a wood bullet, and the adapter breaks it up upon firing. You should be able to find a cap for the threads pretty easily.

The brass disc indicates the measurement of the bore and the amount of wear present at the last time the rifle was at the arsenal, indicated by a punch mark next to a number. It doesn't mean much in terms of use. They all shoot great.

 

[skidooman603]

TACK drivers! Hard to tell from photos what needs to be done to wood. I would at least take stock off and give her a goin over with brass wool and oderless mineral spirits. Follow that up with some tung-oil or Fairtrimmer's Mil-Ox. If ya don't mind me askin what Cabs get for a Swede in that condition these days?

 

[C-grunt]

180 bucks.

 

[jn1965]

Da-yam!

Nice find!

The Cabelas in Pa only has over priced shotguns and some lever actions as used guns. I would really love to find a Mauser like that one...

 

[sniper5]

If you want adjustable sights for that check out mojosights.com. Have the front and rear set on mine and they're great. Front and rear apertures. You can return back to original configuration with no probs. As for cleaning, check out surplusrifles.com and search the forums. There is a 1:1:1 mix that uses turps and linseed oil that some are using with great results. If you want specifics, there is a contributor named Candyman that does gunstock restorations. You could pose a question to him.

If you don't already know, the round is a 6.5 x 55 Swede. Commercial ammo works well. My load is a 140 gr. Hornady A-Max with 36 grains of IMR4895 and a CCI 34 NATO primer. My wife shoots a 140gr. Hornady A-Max with 17 grains of SR4759 and a CCI 34 NATO primer for an almost zero recoil load. Stainless steel stripper clips are available online through e-bay or gunbroker. Slings are also available either new (people shoot them for competition in Sweden) or used. Bayonets are out there and reasonably priced. There are also target sights available from Sweden that were designed as an aftermarket add on. You will really enjoy the M96, one of the truly classic bolt rifles from that era. Never made under wartime conditions they were meticulously crafted and very accurate. Everything on the rifle is milled and polished steel. A comparable rifle today would be about $2000 to make.

 

[Storm]

From what I'm seeing in the photos, I would leave the wood alone, at most putting on a protective coat of gun stock wax. I'm having a very hard time seeing how you could improve what you already have.

 

[BRad704]

What a gorgeous rifle! Mine is a 1910, and they are the epitomy (to me) of class, beauty and performance.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Numrich's has the muzzle cap<http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?chrProductSKU=15230&chrSuperSKU=&MC=> FYI,They will also buy the flash hider from you if you want to sell it. The original blank firing device<http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?chrProductSKU=46760&chrSuperSKU=&MC=>

 

[Doogledog]

Those things are great rifles. I have one that's marked 1899. Read the information on the links about the data disc. I've sporterized mine and it's just as accurate as any rifle I own.

 

[Trebor]

The M-96 Swedish Mauser is a great rifle. One of mine is the most accurate rifle I own.

I'd just clean the stock, lightly, with some water and Murphy's Oil Soap. Don't drench it, just rub it with a rag.

Personally, I like the look of the "rack number" on the stock so I'd try to leave that on. Try to clean around it if you want to keep it.

 

[jkingrph]

Model 96 Swede Mauser, one of the best Mausers made. That is the original long version, they did rearsenal some and cut down to a shorter length, plus Husqvarna made some of the shorter ones. We call the short version M 38 for the year the cutdowns started.

I cannot tell by looking if that is a flash hider or the blank firing adaptor as I have never seen the blank firing adaptor. They used a wooden bullet in blanks, so the adaptor was designed to shred the wooden bullet. Make sure that thing has a hole in the end for a bullet to pass through and that the hole is large enough before firing. I would hate to see you destroy one of those fine rifles

 

[foudufoot]

Congratulations on your first m96! Now that you're hooked, buy Crown Jewels from Dana Jones and check out this site:

http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

A couple pics of couple of mine... Happiness is a house full of Swedish Mausers

 

[jimmyraythomason]

It clearly is the aftermarket compensator that was so popular for a while. Go to the second link in my last post to see what the blank firing device looks like.

 

[Mr_Pale_Horse]

Nice find C-grunt. There are just not many around, and at Cabelas to boot. Now you need an M38 and an M94 carbine and a Ljungman

 

[Float Pilot]

As has already been pointed out, that is a model 1896 Swedish Mauser.
They Stated making that model in 1898. Yours being made in 1920 is a plus for some collectors. Particularly if it was all matching.

Yours has the blank firing threaded barrel and those are often referred to as m/96B.
The Swdes had a blank adapter that shredded the wooden bullets they used in their blanks. In fact they were not truely a blank, but a wooden training round that could still kill you at close range. Initially they simply had the soldiers point a few degrees off from each other, by GIs are GIs no matter where and of course they shot each other with the darn things.

That rifle originally had an un-threaded barrel and it was rebarreled by the Swede military armorers probably in the 1950s or 60s.

The barrel is 29.1 inches long and has a 1 in 200mm rifling twist rate. About 1 in 7.5 inches.
The correct Swede thread protector is a plastic piece. Most folks buy the blued steel aftermarket thread protector which gives it an original appearance.
That mall ninja flash-hider looks goofy and does not help the accuracy.

The caliber is the super accurate 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser. The original ammunition was developed in the 1890s and was a 156 grain round nose bullet. Just as WWII started the Swedes decided to go to a 139 grain spitzer boat-tail. However they used both types of ammo for many years.
That is why many Swede Mausers have a range conversion plate or chart on the side of their stocks.

The round disc on the side of the buttstock is an inspection condition disc.
the marks over the numbers indicate the bore diameter in the large section,
the hold-over or under for the Spitzer (Torpedo) ammunition and the bore/barrel condition in the 1,2,3 section.
No mark means a new barrel, 1, is ok, 2 is showing some wear and 3 means more wear. If it failed they would pull the disc and put red wax into the hole until it was rebarreled.

The Swede had anal retentive standards and their worn-out barrels were better than most new barrels in other countries.
The lighter triangle marks on your disc appear to be original, the other heavy dents look like the work of bubba. I would not worry about that disc much. It may not even be original to this rifle.

Any factory ammo will work just fine as will most moderate hand-loads. The 1896 action is NOT as strong as the later 98 actions. Since they are super accurate there is not reason to hot load them.

You may have to replace your front sight with a higher after market front sight in order to get a 100 yard zero. The original battle sight started at 300 meters.

 

[C-grunt]

Is there a closer rage I can zero at kinda like the M16 25/300 meter zero. I want to keep the sights correctly calibrated for the hash marks on the rear.

Yeah the flash suppressor looks really goofy, but Ill keep it on until I get a cap to protect the threading. This darn thing hardly fits in my safe!!

 

[eastbank]

nice find, i got a 1944 model 38 at a auction a little while ago and it cost me just about double your 180.00. i have not fired mine yet. eastbank.

 

[nwilliams]

You stole it for $180!!

I would have snatched that thing up without think twice! Congrats!

 

[Float Pilot]

Is there a closer rage I can zero at kinda like the M16 25/300 meter zero. I want to keep the sights correctly calibrated for the hash marks on the rear.

First of all you need to fire it. It may already have a modified front sight blade. They sold all sorts of different heights.

The M-16 can do the 25 meter zero Being close at 300 meters thing because of the height of the sights over the barrel. Your Mauser's sights are much closer to the barrel / bore line, so who knows...

You could just fire at 100 yards at a 6 inch black circle and see where the impacts hit while you use a 6 o'clock hold. You should get a nice tight group about 6 to 8 inches above your aim point if the rifle is still sighted for 300 meters. The Swede troops were trained to fire at the belt line when the enemy was up close for chest hits.

Is there an [SA] stamped anywhere on your receiver? Lots of those m/96s went to Finland during the Winter War and the Continuation War. Most but not all were SA marked if the Finns issued them.
There were also entire Swedish battalions who "volunteered" to kill Russians during those wars who marched across the boarder with all of their Swede uniforms, rifles and gear.

 

[C-grunt]

No "SA" but there is a "HK" stamped just to the left of the serial number.

Is dry firing safe with this rifle? Its got an insanely good crisp trigger for being a military weapon. No wonder they are known for their accuracy.

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Float Pilot]

H.K. is the initials of the Swedish Army inspector - Helge Gustaf Ludvig Kolthoff who inspected rifles at the Carl Gustaf factory from 1 Apr 1912 - 28 Feb 1923.
He was a Lieutenant in the 6th Artillery.

I am sure that rifle has been dry fired many times over the last 89 years.

There is also the old pull the trigger while lowering the bolt method. That decocks it slowly.

You will also note that you can apply the safety while the rifle is not cocked. That was a special mod the Swedes wanted. The rifle was designed by Mauser with input from the Swedes. They already had the cartridge designed by a Norway / Sweden ammo commission of sorts. The first m/94 carbines and later some of the first m/96 rifles were built in Germany using Swedish steel and with Swedish Army inspectors at the Mauser factory on the Neckar River.

The majority of Swede Mausers were built by CG in Sweden.\

Here is a ten shot group from mine at 100 yards using the military sights. the barrel was getting hot from some other experimental loads so the group started to wander off to the right