Swedish Mauser

[Battis]

I'm looking at a Swedish 6.5x55 M96 CARL GUSTAFS STADS with a date of 1903. All numbers match, but the top handguard is a replacement (well done). The bore is really good. No rust, action is smooth.
From what I've read, they seem to be popular.
Checking around, prices for these rifles are all over the place. My store is asking $325.
Anything good or bad to look for in this rifle?
Thanks.

[upnorthwis]

Sounds like it's the same as mine except for the handguard and price. I paid WAAAAAAAAAAAAY more than that. If I could have gotten mine for $325 I would have thought I died and went to heaven (or shooting range). My vote is that you buy it. Start with a 140 gr. boolit w/GC powered by 20 gr. 4759.

[PS Paul]

Pictures, please?
I've seen 'em higher, but just a few years back, $200-$250 was more in line. Obviously, prices have gone up lately.
Last one I saw in pretty good condition was $400 at a show in Oregon last August....
Photos can help

[lefty o]

they typically shoot very well, and are nice rifles. $325 is a pretty good buy now days.

[Battis]

I have the rifle on hold in the store for a week. I'll see if I can get some pics. It's in really good shape - the handguard fits perfectly and is almost the same color. Any major variations in the different dates? Like I said, this one is stamped 1903.

[David2011]

IMO (and that of some more knowledgable than myself) the M96 is the best of the Mausers. It's made of Swedish steel. The machining is superb. The action is strong. They have a very fast twist to stabilize the long military bullets. Someone who used to do handload testing at Lyman told me that they used M96 actions for most of their testing. The caliber is outstanding and inherently accurate. I won't hurt your feelings by telling you what a nice one sold for when I got mine about 25 years ago.

I wanted one to sporterize. SWMBO at the time worked in a gun shop and she picked one out for me that even that long ago I felt that it was way too nice to modify so it's still stone stock. I retrospect it is far too nice to have been sporterized.

I like the cartridge so much that when I built a custom rifle I chambered it in 6.5x55.

David

[richhodg66]

I have a nicely sporterized one and like it. I haven't handloaded for it yet, but I'm pretty sure it'll only do better when I do.

A few years ago when I was stationed at Fort Sill, the local club held military 100 yard matches, had to use a military rifle and there was a move to ban the Swedish Mausers because they were winning all the matches and some guys had a problem with that being done by a military rifle that never saw combat.

[Battis]

I gotta stay out of that store. The Swedish Mauser was right next to a nice looking K31, a Lebel and several Steyrs. I don't know much about the Lebel and the Steyrs, but that K31 was tempting. The Swedish Mauser jumped out at me.
I'll go back and gets some pics. More likely, I'll go back and get the rifle.

[oscarflytyer]

IMHO - buy it - can't lose. Swedes are the best Mauser, and best Milsurp you can buy... 'Course I am biased. Had one couldn't get back from EU, have one original 1900, one sportered (DAYUNG I wish I hadn't done that 25 yrs ago!!!) and a Win M70 FW in 6.5x55. LOVE THEM ALL!

And my #4 son loves them too! He claims the sporter as his and also claims the M70 - as he shot his first deer with it. Very accurate, negligible recoil, awesome ballistics and deadly on deer! What's not to like?!?

[mac60]

They are fine examples of the gunmaker's art. If that rifle were made today with the same quality of materials and workmanship, imagine what you'd have to pay for it.

[largom]

Swedish mausers are getting hard to find due to collectors and the fact that most are in very good condition. They are excellent shooters. Shot my first deer with a M94 that I bought for $40.00. The last M94 I saw at auction brought $525.00. The M96's are a little cheaper but still bring $300-400.00 depending on where located. I have sporterized several and now wish I had not. Still have a couple M96's and one M94 which I now consider "money in the bank".
I suggest you buy it. Will be worth more down the road.

Larry

[W.R.Buchanan]

Great guns! I have a M96 that has been in transition to CG63 configuration for several years. (stalled project) Lots of things you can do with them. Mine was made in 1899 and had all matching 5 digit SN, however there are plenty more out there and so sporterizing one is not going to drain the collectors pool that much.

You should do what ever makes you feel good about the gun.

The M94 carbines are the coolest of the Swedish guns IMHO, I passed one up that had been slightly Bubba'd for $525. It already had a receiver sight installed which is what I wanted to do to it, and the stock was a *** but the gun would have made and excellent hunting rifle with only the addition of a Swedish Side mounted scope and a different stock. I'm still kicking myself over that error in judgment.

All existing guns are going up in value. These guns are not getting scarce, it's not like they are being destroyed. More civilian people simply own them than did a few years ago. The guns are still around they just belong to someone other than the Swedish Govt. and Swedes in general. Those someones will probably sell eventually. Be ready.

Randy

[lonewelder]

I have had several and still have 1.they are very good guns and all shot very well.It is the only caliber I own that I havent tried cast in.the 160gr smp j word is so accurate it is boring.the 120-140 is awsome on deer.if I ran across a numbers matching one in good shape for 450 or less I would jump on it.then you can start looking for a huskavarna(sp.?)buy it and walk out with a big smile!

[Dutchman]

....there was a move to ban the Swedish Mausers because they were winning all the matches and some guys had a problem with that being done by a military rifle that never saw combat.

I had a lengthy and passionate dialog with an idiot once on gunboards about this very subject. Taken to it's natural conclusion such people are saying that if your military rifle has never killed another human being it's worthless in the eyes of Them-Who-Decide-the-Fate-of-the-World. It took me pages and pages of writing to fully express my utter contempt for such a notion and pretty much presented a diametrically opposite view: that those military rifles made by countries that had never seen combat were worth far more to those of us who valued such things as being unbloodied in combat. So we have the magnificent Swiss Schmidt-Rubin rifles and the much loved Swedish Mausers.

For those who pursue the twisted notion that War-Is-the-Most-Noble-of-Human-Endeavors and must be worshiped in all it's minuscule molecular remnants you may seek to acquire one of those m/96 Swedish Mausers marked with the SA Finland Army property stamp as some of those 77,000 rifles saw combat against the commie Russians in the Winter War and Continuation War 1939-1941.

~Atrocities of War~

All of the atrocities of war are for the living.
Only they realize the full impact
of a child crippled, a young girl maimed.
You see, the dead enjoy the finality of death.
While we the living are haunted by their dying.
All around us the war,
in the rubble of a house,
the roar of a jet,
the crack of a rifle.
You can smell it, taste it,
even feel it.
It climbs into your sleep
filling your dreams.
Everywhere around you it is
until with astounding clarity it strikes you.
Sh*t man, you are the war.

- Pete "Doc" Fraser -
3/187
http://www.lzsally.com/popage.html

[462]

"Taken to it's natural conclusion such people are saying that if your military rifle has never killed another human being it's worthless in the eyes of Them-Who-Decide-the-Fate-of-the-World."

Who is to say that any military rifle has actually killed an enemy. Sure, I wish my military rifles could talk, perhaps we all do. But they can't. So, buy them, shoot them, modify them if you like, but enjoy them.

[W.R.Buchanan]

My first question would have to be ,,, "how would anybody possibly know if any specific gun had ever actually killed someone?"

I guess if it had notches filed in the buttstock that might be a clue.

I doubt those in combat generally had time to keep score.

One of the problems with Internet Experts is that you can't usually slap them.

Although I'm sure some would love to slap me.

No need to rush to agree with me on that final point!

Randy

[kawasakifreak77]

Buy that now!

[BruceB]

Living in Canada in the '70s, I bought many M96/M38 Swedes for around $40 in near-new condition. We also had the AG42B Ljungmann 6.5x55 autoloaders available in the $40 range in near-new condition....WITH a complete spare-parts kit.
(Sigh)

On the topic of whether or not a rifle has actually "seen" combat, I owned exactly ONE (out of hundreds) that was a certain veteran by its own evidence.

It was a 3-band Snider breechloader out of the late 1800s.

One evening a good friend was visiting my home. he happened to be the "ident" (lab) man for the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment. After fondling a variety of rifles for a while, he asked to borrow the Snider for a few days, and I agreed.

When he brought it back he said that there was human blood caked around the lockplate, and more caked around the buttplate.

To add to the story, my dentist was visiting a while later (hey, it was a small town). He was also a "gunny" sort, and we were looking at rifles as gunnies do.

Inspecting that same Snider rifle, he identified a pair of odd, deep marks on top of that old walnut stock. They were the marks of some poor soul's INCISOR TEETH, driven deeply into the wood by (no doubt) a fierce butt-stroke.

That rifle had clearly been in a desperate hand-to-hand battle somewhere in the British Empire. For the rifle to have been bathed in blood, and to have been used as a club in deadly close-quarter struggle, it must truly have been an epic event for those involved....even if there only very few participants.

That rifle, alone of all those I've owned, could genuinely be said to have been a "weapon of battle".

[Battis]

I went back today and re-examined the gun. It looks really good, though the replacement handguard's color is slightly off from the rest of the rifle. The rest of the wood looks good with a few wear marks - nothing major. There's an importer's mark/name near the muzzle. No rust, shiny bore, smooth action, matching numbers. I put it on 60 day hold, which means I'll probably get it next week.

[gandydancer]

I have owned them all at one time or another. I worked for a co that sold them in the 70's. still have a ton of 200 rd ammo packs & 170 rd boxes of ammo. and a custom model 94 with a international style stock on it. I may put up for sale soon on GB. "cleaning house"