WAS Using modern ammo in an old military action NOW new barrel grouping

Rick65Cat

Rick65Cat

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Rifle in question is a 1902 dated M96 Swedish Mauser. The barrel is new/unused but is attached to a 1902 receiver.
Should I be concerned about using modern commercial ammo or should I just use reloads?
(My Speers #14 reloading book has a section for reloading for only the military actions)
Maybe I'm being over cautious?
 
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I reload my Swedes and have no problems. Definitely you need to pay attention to pressures and stay conservative. Using a slow powder like H4831sc helps along with 140 grain projectiles. I tried 120 grain and the results were not great. Don't worry too much about the year - my 1900 Carl Gustaf and Oberndorf guns handle modern loads without issues. I do fire form my brass, then neck size only. I also pay very close attention to primer seating due to a couple of punctured primers (probably operator error). The Hodgdon website has a decent workup for the rifle and that's what I use for my load development.

Rick65Cat said:
Rifle in question is a 1902 dated M96 Swedish Mauser. The barrel is new/unused but is attached to a 1902 receiver.
Should I be concerned about using modern commercial ammo or should I just use reloads?
(My Speers #14 reloading book has a section for reloading for only the military actions)
Maybe I'm being over cautious?
Click to expand...
 
OP, North American loaded commercial 6.5x55 is safe to use in your rifle.

You might have to be careful with some of the ammo out of Europe, where they expect you to do some research on the ammo you purchase, for exactly the reasons you asked here.

Good on you for using some common sense.
 
I used to have some of that czech privi partizan 139gr stuff and it seemed to shoot ok. But that was ammo I bought in the mid 80s. I also had a box of Winchester 140gr ammo, but every time I pulled the trigger I was wincing due to the new ammo higher pressure.
Thanks for the replies guys, Thats what pulls shooters together. The cameraderie and willingness to help those less knowledgable.

I am taking the rifle to a gunsmith tomorrow to have the headspacing checked. (new barrel and receiver but using my old bolt)
 
Woohoooo!! Took the rifle to a local gunsmith who checked the headspace. Fell within spec!!! Now, to get the scope remounted and get it to the range and sighted in. Will be using 140gr bullets.
 
Grizzly Adams said:
Swedish and Swiss rifles, the best steel there is.:)

Grizz
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Ummmm best steel for the purpose at the time. Those old receivers are strong but not nearly as strong as modern receivers.

The Swedes used the same receiver but with upgraded steel for making into sporters during the 50s/60s. They're pretty easy to pick out as they don't have the thumb cut out on the left side of the receiver. I've had the latter rifles factory chambered for 308 Win and 30-06. This has created a lot of confusion in North America.

A friend, who should have known better, built a 308 Win on one and blew the receiver ring off the rifle after the second shot downrange. He was lucky. He used a M96 action.

Some people say the later M38 actions are stronger. I don't have any information, nor can I find any that tells me this. IMHO, those old receivers are fine as long as the ammo is loaded to the pressures they were designed for.

As for you finding the Winchester ammo hotter??????? Winchester keeps their pressure on the 6.5x55 within the tolerance levels of the M96 and the old Krag actions.
 
I reload for the Swede M96 with a 140gr Sierra Matchking over 41.5 grains of H4350. Depending on throat length, seat bullet 0.005-10” off the lands.
 
That's not the whole story but there is a fair amount of information about the cartridge (if you trust wiki's)

The militaries of Sweden and Norway loaded their 6.5Ă—55mm skarp patron m/94 projektil m/94 (live cartridge m/94 projectile m/94) service ammunition with a 10.1 grams (156 gr) long round-nosed m/94 (B-projectile) bullet fired at a muzzle velocity of 725 m/s (2,379 ft/s) with 2,654 J (1,957 ftâ‹…lbf) muzzle energy from a 739 mm (29.1 in) long barrel up to the early phase of World War II and Norwegian occupation by Germany in 1940.


From 1941 onwards, Sweden, which remained neutral during World War II, adopted skarp patron m/94 prickskytte m/41 (live cartridge m/94 sniping m/41) ammunition loaded with a 9.1 grams (140 gr) spitzer bullet (D-projectile) fired at a muzzle velocity of 800 m/s (2,625 ft/s) with 2,912 J (2,148 ft⋅lbf) muzzle energy from a 739 mm (29.1 in) long barrel.[12] Besides a pointed nose the m/41 D-projectile also had a boat tail. Originally developed for the m/41 sniper rifle, this new cartridge replaced the m/94 ammunition loaded with the M/94 projectile for general use.[13] Besides the two skarp patron (live full metal jacket ball cartridge) variants various other military 6.5×55mm ammunition types like enhanced precision, armor piercing, tracer, blank, inert and training cartridges were available. Swedish blanks or lös patron were loaded with bullet shaped wooden projectiles that were painted red. To fire these blanks the Swedish military used a Blank Firing Attachment (BFA). These adapters were mounted on the muzzle and designed to shred the wooden projectile as it exited the muzzle to prevent injuries to nearby people and to allow functioning of automatic weapons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.5Ă—55mm_Swedish

http://dutchman.rebooty.com/ammo.html

http://dutchman.rebooty.com/ammo.html

For an M96, stay under 2650 FPS and use a slow powder for reloading. Most commercial ammo have ballistics charts so use them as a guideline.

Here's a Winchester example:
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Super-X/X6555


sail32 said:
European Cartridge pressures found here; 6.5x55mm Swed on this page.

COMMISSION INTERNATIONALE PERMANENTE POUR L'EPREUVE DES ARMES A FEU PORTATIVES

https://bobp.cip-bobp.org/en/tdcc_public?page=2&cartridge_type_id=1
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saskminer said:
For an M96, stay under 2650 FPS and use a slow powder for reloading. Most commercial ammo have ballistics charts so use them as a guideline.
Click to expand...

I bought some Federal "Fusion" 140gr SP advertised as 2530 fps. Stupidly I sold all my empty 6.5 brass in anticipation of selling this rifle. Now I've changed my mind and have no reloading supplies.
 
Rick65Cat said:
I bought some Federal "Fusion" 140gr SP advertised as 2530 fps. Stupidly I sold all my empty 6.5 brass in anticipation of selling this rifle. Now I've changed my mind and have no reloading supplies.
Click to expand...

TradeExCanada & Budget Shooters Supply have high quality Prvi brass in stock.

I saw 6.5x55 brass at P&D as well.
 
No one ever blew the receiver ring off a Model 96 Swede barreled in .308 without a whole lot else going on - damaged action, failed cartridge case or insane loading. I would not barrel a Model 96 to .308W but it has been done a lot.
There is no point abusing a surplus military action with excessive loads, but the 96 Swede is adequately strong. CIP standard European ammunition should be perfectly safe. American ammunition is usually loaded to avoid lawsuits over blown up weaker actions chambered for the cartridge.
There were significant improvements in the Model 98 Mauser action, over the Model 96, for handling escaping gas from a cartridge case failure.
 
Many, many Swedes were re-barreled to 7.62 and used as target rifles. They were always referred to as Carl Gustovs.

The ammo we were issued ran around 60,000 psi and I don't ever recall an issue.

The problem with hand loaders is that their reloads often run at proof round levels.
 
Or get a double charge of pistol powder. 34gr of Alliant 2400 instead of 17gr with cast bullets may/can ruin you day and your face.
 
Ganderite said:
Many, many Swedes were re-barreled to 7.62 and used as target rifles. They were always referred to as Carl Gustovs.

The ammo we were issued ran around 60,000 psi and I don't ever recall an issue.

The problem with hand loaders is that their reloads often run at proof round levels.
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In the case of the rifle I mentioned with the top receiver ring being blown off, you and saskbooknut are correct. There was more going on, including loads that were way to hot for that particular rifle.

I have a Swede Match rifle with the Carl Gustav mark on the receiver ring. It has diopter sights, with the long 29 inch bbl, which doesn't appear to be any heavier than the issue 6.5 barrels.

Nothing on the receiver to indicate date of manufacture. Do you know if the metal used for the later Husqvarna receivers was different from the early 96 receivers??

Remington used to offer the Swede receivers under their own name brand. chambered for both the 6.5x55 and the 7.62x51 Nato.
 
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