Carl Gustaf's Swedish Mauser

[OldFotoMan]

I'm trying to get as much info as I can on a Swedish Mauser that I inherited will probably sell. It appears to be in very good condition and everything functions properly. It says 5 over a line, with A4 under the line on the tag; then No 1256 at the bottom of the tag. All numbers match and seem correct on this gun.

Most other markings can be seen clearly in the photos I'm attaching. Bluing and metal seems to be original and excellent, the brown coloring on the bolt seems to be dried grease, or some type of preservative.

I know my father owned this gun back in the 50's and occasionally used it for deer hunting. He generally coated his guns with some type of grease and placed them in oil cloth socks when they weren't going to be used for awhile.

He was a POW who escaped from German prison camp during WWII, and brought several weapons home with him. But I'm not sure if this was one he brought home or if it may be one that came from my grandfather, who was a big collector and served in WWI. I do know for sure that he brought several guns and bayonets back with him, but I can't remember just which ones they are.

From everything I've been able to find on these, it may be something imported and one of them bought later, because it does have the very short barrel extension, unless that was required to be installed even on "war trophies" when they were brought back.

I chose to post here because I'm told there is a gentleman here who is an expert on these guns. I hope I was told correctly.

Any and all info will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
OldFotoMan

[Hang Fire]

Please show pic of the entire firearm.

[462]

Dutchman is the resident Swedish Mauser expert.

The rifle appears to be a Model 1894 Carbine.

[W.R.Buchanan]

+1 on what 462 says.

Dutch is the resident expert on all things Swede Mauser, and what you have is a model 94 Carbine.

Those guns were assembled using existing receivers before WWII. IE; the receiver was made in 1906 but the rest of the gun was made later using the recycled receiver.

If you want to sell it PM me. I'm interested

Randy

[Dutchman]

Interesting that the receiver is dated 1906 but the serial number falls in with 1907 production. That said, 1906 was a very low production year and anomalous serial numbers are not unusual, as this appears to be the case.

The model is m/1894-14. The -14 is the bayonet lug addition. The barrel extension was added for importation prior to 1968. Pretty safe to suggest your father paid about $29.95 for this carbine when he bought it.

A4 on the disc: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrlan...lleriregemente

No particular extra value other than unit discs are more interesting and desirable to collectors.

Your carbine was not brought back from WW2. None of these carbines were used in WW2. Sweden was a neutral country during WW2.

Your carbine is missing the leather sling buckle which is a rather difficult item to find loose. But with some effort they can be found. $$$.

I'd suggest you do not touch this carbine in any way such as "cleaning" it to make it mo'better. Leave it as it is.

Those guns were assembled using existing receivers before WWII. IE; the receiver was made in 1906 but the rest of the gun was made later using the recycled receiver.

Never heard this before. This carbine was made new in 1906 or 1907, I'd guess 1907 seeing how the s/n falls in line with 1907 production. Carbines were not manufactured every year.

It's hard to estimate value without a full set of photos up one side and down the other to fully assess condition. As it is I'd hazard a figure of $700 but $850 might not be too high due to the 1906 date (some collectors are "date" collectors). It could go a little higher or a little lower. Using an online auction like Gunbroker is the way to squeeze out the highest price though there are certain ~pains~ involved with doing it that way, especially if you're new to the venue. Selling via a fixed price will yeild a fairly quick sale as Swede carbines are among the highest in demand vintage Mauser carbines. If you want some assistance in selling email me through the forum. I generally advocate for buyers unless an unaccustomed newbie seller like yourself asks for help.

You do not need to have a Federal Firearms license to sell or ship this carbine but the buyer will need to have at least a 03FFL (curio-relic license) or have a 01FFL dealer lined up to receive the shipment. You need a copy of his license to ship via UPS or USPS (Registered Mail is recommended due to high security). You'll need to pack it very carefully and I'd suggest buying a hardcase to ship it in and pass the cost on to the buyer as the buyer will want the item to arrive safely without damage.

Feel free to ask questions here in the forum of email me privately through the forum. But in the forum is just fine.

Dutch
http://dutchman.rebooty.com/

[Whistler]

Being a Swede myself I might be able to contribute some trivia, however I am no expert on rifles myself.

The stamp on the receiver reads "Carl Gustafs Gevärsfaktori", which is Swedish for "Carl Gustaf's Rifle Factory". Carl Gustaf is the heredatory name of the Swedish Monarch. Our current is king Carl XVI Gustaf, born in 1946.

Here is a translated version of the wikipedia article on Carl Gustafs Gevärsfaktori:
Carl Gustafs Gevärsfaktori

The Swedish Mausers are still very common in Sweden. We have 700,000 licensed gun owners in Sweden (all rimfire and centerfire firearms, both handguns and rifles, require a license, even for hunting) whereof at least half are sure to still own a Swedish Mauser. Most common are M/96 and M/39. There are still some long range target shooting disciplines that only allow Swedish Mausers.

I live ten minutes from our suburb Huskvarna, where many of the Swedish rifles were made in the brand "Husqvarna Vapen". As you might guess this is also the origin of the famous chainsaws and lumber/gardening appliances that is still a large part of the industry around here.

[Multigunner]

The only time I've seen an issue with a M96 it was a Carl Gustave, a pre WW1 IIRC.
At that it was the bolt not the receiver or barrel and no where near the locking lugs.
From the look of it excessive dry firing had caused a crack to appear at the end of the firing pin retractor cam cut. very tiny, but a sign of the steel being a bit brittle there. Replacement bolts including the target model bolt with the huge knob were still available at the time so that tiny crack was not a tragedy.
Personally I would have had no qualms in firing that rifle, since the crack was nowhere near any firing stresses.
Despite what we so often hear, dry firing can cause damage to just about any rifle if done too many times.

[OldFotoMan]

Thanks to all.

And I should apologize. Maybe I should have started by introducing myself a little bit. I gave up my FFL about 8 years ago, but have been collecting, trading, buying, and selling guns for almost 50 years.
Shooting them for well over 50. So I do have quite a bit of knowledge on older guns, what cleaning or altering them will do to their value; and generally judging their overall originality and condition. I just have absolutely no experience with Swedish Mausers. So I’m here because I’m told that Dutchman, and maybe some others here, are experts on these guns. Most of my experience has been with “cowboy” type guns; single actions, levers, and SxS doubles. Just where my interests were. Never dealt much with military style guns.

As I stated, I inherited this from my father. I don’t know where he got it. He may have bought it. It may have come from my grandfather, who had a huge gun collection. (He did bring home several guns after WWII, but I tend to agree this was probably not one as he had a couple of guns that were definitely from the region where he escaped from POW camp.) I just don’t know how it came into my family. What I do know is that my dad preferred it for antelope and white tails, and I first recall him using it in the fall of ’58. I know it has been totally unmolested since then. Dad’s habit was to run a solvent patch, then an oil patch through the bore, then oil them and put them in an oil cloth gun sock until he was going to use it again. If they were not going to be used for an extended time period, he would put a thin coat of cosmolene on the metal and wax the wood before storing them. Anyway, I can’t say where it was or what may have happened before then, but I can say there has been nothing done other than normal usage and storage since 1958.

I’ve looked it over pretty well, and see no major flaws. All numbers match and it appears to be a good, clean, original gun. The only exception being the very short extension on the front of the barrel, and it was very well done and fits nicely. Multigunner, I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to, since I don’t see any kind of cracks in mine anywhere around the bolt; but you’re also referring to an M96 and mine is an M94, so maybe you’re confusing mine with another gun. I have fired several rounds through this several years ago, and everything seems to function correctly.

Dutchman, and others who are interested, I’ll be more than happy to post or send more (better, or higher resolution) photos of what ever you guys need to help examine or determine condition or correctness of this gun. Just let me know what you want. I just selected these to help ID it and because they were close to the limits of the size this forum allows. I probably won’t be able to take or post them until the beginning of the week.

Over the years, I’ve joined several of these forums. None of us who collect, or trade, can be thoroughly knowledgeable in all different fields and types of guns. I’ve learned that there are always experts on these types of sites; people who specialize in a particular type of gun, and know it better than most anyone else.
This is the great thing about these forums. I can learn from those who really know.

Thanks again, and let me know what details you want to see. I’ll get them posted as quickly as I can. I love the 6.5x55 caliber, but I want something I can use for everyday hunting and shooting. That would destroy the value of this gun.

Thanks,
OldFotoMan

[crabo]

Were all of them 6.5x55 caliber? My friend was given this one.



Here's the whole gun



He will never shoot it, but I probably can't get it away from him either.

[Dutchman]

Were all of them 6.5x55 caliber?

For the most part yes, all are 6.5x55.

However..... a private company converted some m/94 carbines to 7x57 for sale to some central American country. I believe the original barrels were re-bored and rifled.

Dutch

[OldFotoMan]

Dutchman, after some soul searching and some extensive searching through my storage, I have decided to offer this for sale.

The soul searching because it belonged to my father. The storage searching to find the original sling buckle.
I removed the buckle when I was thinking about using this for hunting, then saw the prices that some of these were bringing, and decided not to use it until I had done a little more research. The buckle is in good condition, but I have not found the original screws that held it on yet. I do recall that they seemed to be standard brass wood screws. I do not have the rest of the sling.

I do have some ammo I could include also. I think a box of NORMA and a bag full of light target rounds. I think the bag was marked as 60 rounds.

My thoughts are simple. I like the way this round shoots, and I am a collector and trader, but I generally don't do military type weapons. I prefer single actions, levers, and SxS doubles. For my purposes, I think it would be better to sell this to someone who will appreciate it and use the proceeds to get a sporterized version in this caliber that I can hunt with without hurting the value.

I have several more photos of it and can upload them to a site such as Picassa along with a link to them, or I'm open if you have another suggestion for being able to display it so prospective buyers could see it.

Any help or advise will be appreciated.

OldFotoMan

[Dutchman]

I don't know exactly what to tell you in regards to selling it. Selling via an auction site like Gunbroker is probably the best way to go. More photos would be good. Buyers want to see everything. But you'll have to figure out the in's and out's of Gunbroker in order to sell it online.

Dutch

[OldFotoMan]

I had thought about that. I also thought there was an area of this forum to list things for sale, and thought that might be worth a try first. I don't know what the requirements are to list them on here.

In a previous reply, you said that the original sling buckles cost $$$ and are difficult to find. Can you give me a rough idea of what it might add to the value since I have found the original buckle?

Thanks

[OldFotoMan]

I don't know exactly what to tell you in regards to selling it. Selling via an auction site like Gunbroker is probably the best way to go. More photos would be good. Buyers want to see everything. But you'll have to figure out the in's and out's of Gunbroker in order to sell it online.

Dutch

Sorry. I didn't mean to seem like I was trying to impose on you. I guess I just misunderstood this part of your previous post: "If you want some assistance in selling email me through the forum. I generally advocate for buyers unless an unaccustomed newbie seller like yourself asks for help."

I do truly appreciate the info and advice you and others here have provided so far. It has been by far the most knowledgeable and useful info I've been able to get on these Swedish Mausers.