Husqvarna Model 33 rolling block

[Dutchman]

The Husqvarna Model 33 is a beautifully built classic commercial rolling block that was offered in a variety of calibers including some large bores. The action itself is rather small. Much smaller than the #1 Remington action.

The full stock musket is just elegant.

According to the book, "Husqvarna Jaktvapen 1870-1977", this was known as the Studsare Nr 33, Remingtonmekanism med centralantändning tillverkades under ___? 1877 to 1912 (in the following cartridges):
6x36R, 6.5x42R, 8x42R, 8x57R/.360, 9x47R, 9,15x57R/.360, 9,5x47R, 10x47R, 10,5x47R. (Remington mechanism with central firing pin or something..).

Barrel length 65cm for calibers 6 through 6,5. For other calibers 72cm. Something about the sights calibrated for 60, 120 & 180 meters. Did I mention this book is in Swedish? I don't read Swedish fluently :roll:.

The halfstock is: halvstock.
Price in 1877 was 55 Kroner.
The "helstock" (must be full stock) was 75 Kroner.
There was a Model 33A from 1893 to 1912 with a halfstock and pistol grip (pistolgrepp).

I had one of the full stock muskets and I coulda sworn it was 8x58R Danish. But Ken Buch decided he wanted it more than me so we did some trading. I wasn't real happy with the size of the action. It just doesn't inspire confidence being a little girl size action. But they are a beautifully built rifle.

http://images50.fotki.com/v1526/photos/2/28344/1676633/hva1-vi.jpg

http://images116.fotki.com/v717/photos/2/28344/1676633/hva2-vi.jpg

http://images109.fotki.com/v1537/photos/2/28344/1676633/hva3-vi.jpg

http://images115.fotki.com/v671/photos/2/28344/1676633/hva4-vi.jpg

http://images50.fotki.com/v1523/photos/2/28344/1676633/hva5-vi.jpg

http://images114.fotki.com/v641/photos/2/28344/1676633/hva6-vi.jpg

http://images114.fotki.com/v641/photos/2/28344/1676633/hva9-vi.jpg

http://images116.fotki.com/v703/photos/2/28344/1676633/hva8-vi.jpg

[Boz330]

OOOOHH I like that full stock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

[Dutchman]

http://images110.fotki.com/v1539/photos/2/28344/1676633/hvarb6-vi.jpg

[marlinman93]

I've got the full stocked 33A and I think they're one of the nicest looking Rolling Block actions I've ever owned! A wonderful shooting rifle also, and the small lightweight rifle is a joy to shoot!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/marlinguy/husky1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/marlinguy/husky2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/marlinguy/husky3.jpg

[.357]

Shoot that is pretty!

[looseprojectile]

If Remington would have made em that pretty they would have sold twice as many. Really neat.
Did they make enough of these that I can aspire to own one?

Life is good

[bigskybound]

My Model 33 is a custom order or deluxe model with English grip and Norsk (Norwegian) target sights. It is chambered in 9.5x47R. A couple of things have made it difficult to load for. First, the dies size the shoulder much farther back than the chamber depth. This has resulted in several split cases, which are kind of spendy. Annealing may help this, or I need a special die to neck size the cases. The second and most problematic (at least for me) is that the bore is .385 (if I recall correctly) and I have not found a suitable precast bullet to shoot. I did shoot some .380 dia. bullets with OK results, but the 9.5x47R was a popular target cartridge in its day and I should be able to get much better results. I have thought about paper patching, but have not found a suitable cast bullet with no grease grooves. Any thoughts or ideas?

[ZoroMan]

Wow, those are beautiful. So am I to understand that you can buy these guns now? Are they reproductions or used and from the original era?

[bigskybound]

Wow, those are beautiful. So am I to understand that you can buy these guns now? Are they reproductions or used and from the original era?
Sorry ZoroMan they are all antiques. A number of nice ones have come in from Sweden through several importers, but it seems that the supply is drying up. :-( The reason I assume mine is a custom or deluxe rifle is that it is the only one like it I have seen. Most look like the ones posted earlier with pistol grips and leaf sights.

[BIG GUN]

Shoot that is pretty!
222mag is not 223!

[doubs43]

Dutch, those are beautiful rifles. If someone would make them again, I'll bet they'd sell well enough. The action is more elegant than the slab-sided models.

[Mk42gunner]

I like my little No 2 Remington, but those are just sweet.


Robert.

[Dutchman]

Sorry ZoroMan they are all antiques.


The HVA33 are not all antiques. Mfg through 1912. In the USofA "antique" concerning firearms begins Jan.1, 1899. I would bet the larger number of these we'd see in the US are "modern" but curio-relic for 03FFL.

Dutchman <03ffl for 25 yrs>

[bigskybound]

The HVA33 are not all antiques. Mfg through 1912. In the USofA "antique" concerning firearms begins Jan.1, 1899. I would bet the larger number of these we'd see in the US are "modern" but curio-relic for 03FFL.

Dutchman <03ffl for 25 yrs>

My bad. I was speaking more to the antiquity of the rifles rather than their legal designation as a "firearm."

[mj134]

I have a half stock Husqvarna rolling block that looks very much like the one pictured,mine was purchased in1892 by my great-grandfather no idea of cal., but a beautiful firearm any idea of value?

[Dutchman]

I have a half stock Husqvarna rolling block that looks very much like the one pictured,mine was purchased in1892 by my great-grandfather no idea of cal., but a beautiful firearm any idea of value?

Using the words, "very much like", does absolutely nothing to describe what it is you have. You cannot class similar firearms simply because they look "very much like" to a person who doesn't have firearms background. We need photos.

As for value. How can anyone possibly tell you the value of something they haven't seen? Nobody has any idea what it is you have. Please, photos.

Dutch'

[gungadoug]

Dutch, is Ken Buch of Kebco? I'm trying to wheedle one of these out of him, or anyone for that matter!
Thanks, Doug in Raton

[calsite]

I bought one of these, at an antique arms show in K.C. Mo. It was chambered for 45-120. obiviously a re-barrel job, however, the top of the 45-120 barrel was marked with a bunch of proof marks like it was of military issue ?? I took it to my favorite gunsmith who transformed it into 45-70, the rifle origianally had a three leaf express rear sight, I put a rear tang sight on her and a Lyman #3 target front sight, now some beautiful figured walnut and might have to finish her off with a new color case hardening job.

[SamTexas49]

but ! how well does it cut wood?

[LT89]

Are those black powder designated rb actions? Cause I don't see the "N" for Nickelstahl or Nitro, meaning they are not designed to be shot with nitro. Or are the later models made for smokeless and have an "N" stamped on the critical pins? That's the first time I've seen any of these smaller rolling block actions.

[TCLouis]

BigSkyBound

Sounds like a paper patched .380" boolit would be just EXACTLY what you need.

Just a WAG of course

[Dutchman]

Are those black powder designated rb actions? Cause I don't see the "N" for Nickelstahl or Nitro, meaning they are not designed to be shot with nitro. Or are the later models made for smokeless and have an "N" stamped on the critical pins? That's the first time I've seen any of these smaller rolling block actions.


The HVA 33 are smokeless. They were chambered for many smokeless cartridges.

I think you're confusing these Swedish rifles with German? There is no N for Nitro or nickelstahl on Swedish rolling blocks.

Let me clarify that statement. The military rolling blocks have no marking of N for nitro or nickelsteel. Some Swedish civilian firearms, mostly shotguns, are marked to indicate a particular steel. These below are all markings for barrel steels.

Svenskt Stål is Swedish steel.
Svenskt Specialstål is Swedish special steel.
Svenskt Nickelstål is Swedish nickel steel.

Swedish guns do not typically have proof marks like German guns. Those firearms you have in Holland for the most part come out of Germany so they tend to have German proof marks as it's the law there. But Swedish guns don't have that requirement.

This below is per the Husqvarna 1867 "Remingtonmekenism" from the "Husqvarna Jaktvapen book 1870-1977".


Efter hand som man mera allmänt gick över från svartkrut till s. k. röksvagt krut i patronerna , ställde detta ökade krav på hållfastheten hos mekanismen. på 1930 talet infördes därför speciella och starkare bultar och slutsycken utförda av nickelstål (n stämplade), varigenom man försäkrade sig om att mekanismerna skulle hålla även för kraftigare patroner. redan tidgare hade man infört en säkerhetsdetalj i mekanismen, nämligen den s. k. stopphanen.


(via google translate hand typed)
accordingly as more generally switched from black powder to the so-called smokeless powder in the cartridges, put the increased demands on the strength of the mechanism. in the 1930's was therefore specific and stronger bolts and slutsycken made of nickel steel (n stamped), thereby insured that the mechanisms would hold even for more powerful cartridges. already previously had had introduced a security feature in the mechanism, namely the so-called stop cock.

Under the description for the Husqvarna Model 33 I see no mention of "N" or nickelstål. But also remember that the military Model 1889 rolling blocks were re-manufactured to use 8x58R Danish smokeless cartridges in the 1890s.

My great-grandmother Deurhof was born in Leiden.

Dutch
northern California

[LT89]

Okey, thanks for the info Dutch, I must have confused it with the German RB's then, although it can be a bit hard to confuse them at times though. Actually almost all the Rolling Blocks for sale in the Netherlands are either Carl Gustav/Husqvarna (Swedish) or Remington (USA), I've never seen any Germany made RB's being sold here.

Both the German and Swedish languages share many similarities and many words are very similar or even exactly the same, so it's difficult for me to know if the word "Nickelstahl" is solely used on either German or Swedish guns. I've found a Dutch website mentioning which guns are and aren't exempt from Dutch Gun Law, and they clearly mention that any Rolling Block which has the "N" abbreviation is designated as a smokeless gun and needs a license no matter what year it's made in, followed by a picture (http://members.chello.nl/j.vandriel4/art18/16_files/image024.jpg) of a Husqvarna RB which clearly has the "N" on the breechblock and the pivoting pin. I also found a second Dutch website (http://www.weiss-trading.com/HVA/index.htm) with a similar article about which Swedish guns/RB's are and aren't exempt, it also mentions the word Nickelstahl being used by the Swedes. But the explanation you mentioned, that only the commercial ones have these markings sounds like the best explanation.

Nice to hear you have a relative who was born in the same city as I was. Did you live in the Netherlands as well and moved to the States, or were you born in the USA? Again, thanks for your info, I've read a lot of your posts and you know a very great deal about Rolling Blocks as well as many area's of shooting, they are a pleasure to read!

Regards,
LT

[pressonregardless]

Here you go guys, there's a place in Canada that has quite a few of these old rolling blocks - http://www.shop.tradeexcanada.com/produits/66

[marlinman93]

I know this is an old post, but never did get back to check it until today.
The place in Canada does have lots of Rolling Blocks, but ALL are military, not civilian sporters like the T33 mentioned here.
I'd also guess that calsite's Roller he found in KC in .45-120 was also NOT a T33, as the T33 is a smaller frame, and the barrel shank would not be large enough to safely accept the base of the .45-120 cartridge.
T33 and T33A rifles are very rare in the US, as they are prized by the Swedes, and rarely get out of the country unless someone was to immigrate here with one in their posession.
Hope this helps.

[RGRWJB]

I found this really great post!

[Wayne Smith]

My Model 33 is a custom order or deluxe model with English grip and Norsk (Norwegian) target sights. It is chambered in 9.5x47R. A couple of things have made it difficult to load for. First, the dies size the shoulder much farther back than the chamber depth. This has resulted in several split cases, which are kind of spendy. Annealing may help this, or I need a special die to neck size the cases. The second and most problematic (at least for me) is that the bore is .385 (if I recall correctly) and I have not found a suitable precast bullet to shoot. I did shoot some .380 dia. bullets with OK results, but the 9.5x47R was a popular target cartridge in its day and I should be able to get much better results. I have thought about paper patching, but have not found a suitable cast bullet with no grease grooves. Any thoughts or ideas?

Simply screw your die out until you have the right neck length and tighten the ring there. That's what I did with my 10.5x47R cartridges with the same problem.

[jbw]

256702

Have this rolling block, but not sure what I have. It has a safety built in the hammer. At some time later, the barrels have been change with the barrel of a danish army remington, with sights typical modified by the shooting clubs.
On the side of the tang it says J.H and F.H.
I have not been able of uploading more pictures

[koger]

I have one of the 1867 models, that has the 5 sided bore like Whitworth ML does. It is 12.7x44R caliber, which is 50 caliber. I use Lee .500 molds that cast a 465gr slug, don't size them and load them in the brass with a light crimp. I have used 2ffg, with good results, and also some light loads of unique, that shot to the same point of zero as the black powder loads. I slow rust browned all of the action and barrel, and it looks good, with an old peep I modified and drilled and tapped the receiver for.

[BlackPowderLove]

I have looked at these Husky rollers before. SO neat!

[marlinman93]

256702

Have this rolling block, but not sure what I have. It has a safety built in the hammer. At some time later, the barrels have been change with the barrel of a danish army remington, with sights typical modified by the shooting clubs.
On the side of the tang it says J.H and F.H.
I have not been able of uploading more pictures

The action itself appears to be the typical #1 military action, but the rest I believe is custom. Barrel is as you mentioned also military style, including the sight.

[jbw]

256748
I do not believe this is military style

[RustyReel]

Somewhere I saw those referred to as a "Safety Hammer" as once dropped it locks the hammer closed. I have one on the Husky 20 Ga RB shotgun which certainly looks like most of the parts came from a military rifle. Most of the parts on your rifle look like they have their roots in a military RB. Either way, cool rifle.

[marlinman93]

256748
I do not believe this is military style

I agree now with these images showing nice checkering on hammer and block spurs. It does have a sporting rifle look to those pieces. Unless they were also reworked when the gun was built. I've got a few military actions that I reworked and reshaped hammer and block spurs, then checkered them to give a nicer Sporting look.
Husqvarna reworked a fair number of leftover military actions when they switched to the bolt action M96. I've seen some very nicely built guns that were credited to Husqvarna as factory reworks and made for game wardens, or "Foresters" as I believe they're called over there?