6.5x55 Swedish Mauser.... I know nothing!

Once you hold a Model 96 Swedish Mauser you'll see the difference and understand the reverence in which they're held. Their machine work and finish are the best of all the Mausers. The Swedes allowed Germany to make them under license but only with Swedish engineers supervising the manufacturing of the high grade steel. Someone that once worked at Lyman told me that their reloading book testing is done with M96 receivers on standardized test barrels. The cartridge is great for hand loading and the original rifles are capable of fine accuracy. Because of the very long original bullets the twist is something like 1 in 7.75" or 1 in 7.5". Original Swedish Mausers in decent condition should shoot 5/8" -3/4" at 100 yards.

I bought my 96 Swedish Mauser around 10 years ago at a garage sale for $90 or $95, shoots beautiful, and I have to agree with David2011, the machine work & overall quality of the workmanship is by far the best I have seen on any military rifle. I am a big fan of old bolt action military rifles, I have 8 or 9 from several different countries, out of all of them the Swede is my favorite and the best shooter. Aim Surplus or Graf & Son usually have the ammo at a decent price.

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Originally Posted by dondiego

I don't know much about the Swede but if that FMJ ammo was military surplus, there is a good chance that it was corrosively primed and you might need to clean again if you didn't use a corrosive cleaning solution. Sounds like a nice rifle!

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Corrosive cleaning solution. IOW, plain old h2O, aka water.

you can get PPU 139 grain soft point ammo for deer hunting, and it is real accurate. the best combo I have found for my swede for target shooting is Hornady 140 grain match bthp bullet with 46 grains. IMR4831 powder PPU brass.

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Originally Posted by davidheart

...... how many $150 rifles shoot sub-moa with iron sights and FMJ ammo?

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Every one of the Swedish Mausers I bought. :p (when they were as low as 59.95 @)

hey, any rifle that shoots well and safely is worth MORE than $150. I recently picked up a mauser 71/84 carbine for $189. supposed to be chambered in 43 mauser, right? well, looks like it's been rebarreled to 43 SPANISH, but whoever did that left the bolt face intact (bolt matches the receiver). no big deal, just bought some 43 Spanish brass (easier to find than 43 mauser, anyway) and turned the rims down on the lathe. so why do I love this gun? no. 1, it flat out shoots. no. 2, I got it for cheap, and no. 3, it's just fun to think that something that was made all those years ago is still functional. i'd love to take a deer or elk with this gun. good luck with your mauser - enjoy it and don't worry about anything else.

Bummer you don't have what you thought you had. Don't feel terrible, I paid $1200 for a "rare" code K98. S/147/G code. Price was actually good if it had been legit, and it is to an extent. But it's a US built rifle from misc german parts, and the receiver is ex russian capture. But it looks nice and has a brand new Yugo 8mm barrel on it so I keep it as a reminder.

I also started shooting my M96 and also hand loading for it with swede surplus training brass. I put 10/10 no misses on the 326 yard Javelina silhouette a few weeks ago. Never shot that well with any other Mil-surp, the range will full of scoped AR's and idiots blasting away at short range not hitting anything and pretty much stopped to gaze at my 107 year old rifle strutting her stuff. It was a good day, loved the attention it brought. :)