The Kongsberg 393 The Unicorns of Norway.

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crazypilotman17

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I have had the chance to shoot and own a couple of these rifles and am wondering if there are any others out there in Canada? I currently own a 393 hunter in 300win mag and a 393 target in 308win. First a little history, before these Rifles were Kongsberg there was the mauser m59 and m62 which were the some of the first rifles that they built. Before that the Krag Jorgensen which most people have herd of is a very well built military rifle adopted by the US and Norway in the early 20th century. This was one of the first trade agreements that the US made with Norway. Lakelander was the first company from Norway that made a rifle that look's like 393 and there was one on the EE that I saw a year ago or more but was too slow and missed the opportunity to buy. Then in the early 90's the Kongsberg 393 was introduced and was sold on the US market not having much success and unfortunately folded up the company in 1998. But hey These rifles shoot like a house on fire dowsed with gas in the middle of a hot summer day! I am planning my moose hunt this year with the 393 hunter in 300win and can't wait for the opportunity to put down a nice cow with this beautiful rifle. Anyway's just looking if other people have experienced the Kongsberg 393 or own one or have even seen one.
Pictures to follow
 
freddygotarf said:
Isn't Lakelander and Varberger also same gun as Kongsberg 393?
Click to expand...

Yes, they are.
There several variants : one first with twelve (TAP 174), another with nine bolt lugs one with six bolt lugs, one with three bolt lugs.
 
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When Tradex Canada gets new batches of hunting rifles in they usually have a few Lakelanders in the bunch for good prices, them Norweigians take pretty good care of there guns, got a few great guns from Tradex in the past,. Just thought I would pass this on?
 
Wasn't the kongsberg the 3rd rifle to use the lakelander action? First came lakelander(made in Finland, then Sweden) then varberger (made in sweden) and then kongsberg?

The lakelander I had was made in Sweden and had a 9 out bolt. Shouldn't have sold it.
 
Well, in bold, that's the story behind those rifles;

The rifle was designed about 1974 by Lars Andersson as the Lakelander TAP 174 and used 12 locking lugs.
About 1976 it was renamed Lakelander TAP-375 and now had 9 lugs. Both of these rifles were fabricated by Tampere Asepaja OY (hence the name TAP).
Then, the companies who owned the rights for the Lakelander went through a serie of bankruptcy and ugly corruption stories and that's why it's a complicated story.
Anyways, around 1980-81 the production was made in Sweden and the rifle lost it's "TAP" surname, and were stamped Lakelander 375.

The rights changed hands a couple of times again, and around 1985-86 ended up in the hands of Landtec Swedish Rifle Inc and production was set in the city of Varberg, Sweden, another trial and the rights ended up in Varberger Precision hands in 1989, the rifle now being called Varberger..
The Varberger 757 was changed for a 6 bolt lugs configuration. The barrels came from Belgium. The model 717 was also introduced as a cheap alternative and used three locking lugs.
In 1997, they instroduced another model, the 777 while keeping the 717 as the low end model, but it was now using 6 lugs, like the 777.
It went bankrupt in 1998, with a total of 6300 rifles sold, most (+/- 75%) being the lower grade 717. About 1000 rifles were sold abroad.

In 1998, another Swedish company bought the right, namely Kalix Precision AB and they started assembling rifles from leftover parts. It didn't go that well, and they soon folded.
The company was sold several times again, while trying to unsuccesfully supply rifles, but in very small quantity.

In the meantime, the Lakelander name was took to Norway by the designer son, Don Andersson, to Kongsberg and the Lakelander 389 then appeared in 1989, with three locking lugs.
The sales started in 1990. The Kongsberg 393 appeared in 1993 in several configurations.

The reason why no one is interested in importing these fine rifles is the cost and the possible selling price, which will bring it in the upper price range. Since this market is already somewhat crowded, no one wants to get into it.
 
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I have a excellent 6.5x55mm Lakelander, great shooting rifle that is extremely well made with a super strong and very smooth action.

kong393.jpg
 
Sounds like I got some info mixed up but look's like that's been fixed haha. Mine just have 3 lug configuration and are some of the most recently built rifles by Kongsberg. Model M393. I keep looking through tradex but no luck so far. Good to see that there are a few of these kicking around!!
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These are nice rifles.

Here's one Lakelander TAP-375 I keep for myself, in 9.3X62 semi HB barrel ;

LakelanderM-3759_3X622_zps501e14cc.jpg


And a rare Varberger BR action;

P1010001_zpsg47qjhxt.jpg

P1010004_zpsvamgleat.jpg
 
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