Used European rifles

I have purchased several rifles from Tradex. All were as advertised until the last one which was a 1600 in 30-06. Looked good from the outside but was totally gummed up inside. The trigger and safety did not move. Once disassembled it looked like someone stripped and refinished the stock without removing the action. I cleaned up the internals, refinished the stock, added a Limbsaver pad, and was happy with the result. A lightweight, sub M.O.A. rifle.

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TradeEx has an excellent reputation for imported arms, I'm sure there's probably a few that slipped through the cracks which maybe should have been assessed at a lower grade, but even then you can always end up with a fun project - rombat's .30-06 above looks great and you wouldn't think twice about pushing bush with it since you refinished it yourself.

I also see Frontier has started importing them as well and they're another site sponsor worth checking out.
 
Potashminer said:
"To watch out for" - that crack extending out from rear of the metal tang. It means the wrist is being split. Most common cause is that the recoil receiving area - ahead of the magazine, in the stock - has gone "punky" or soft - maybe soaked in oils - that shoulder that was meant to take the recoil, has been pushed back. That rear tang is roughly wedge shaped - so pushing entire receiver to rear under recoil applies outward force on that wrist area - splitting it. Less common, but also a "sign" - that rear tang should have .010" or more of "air" behind it - should not be in tight contact to the wood stock - that gap should have been established when rifle inletted the first time - if now closed, is a sign that the recoil shoulder is crushing or pushing back. Much of foregoing from Jerry Kuhnhausen "The Mauser Bolt Action - a Shop Manual".
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https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...sqvarna-Sporting-Rifles-ALL-MODELS!!!/page189
 
West German (Bavarian) Mauser 98 in 30-06 from the 1960's with the double set triggers and excellent bore. Not from TradeEx, but purchased at the price of Savage Axis. Yes, some good ones are out there.

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I recently purchased a Husqvarna 1640 from Tradeex. I basically just looked for the best condition one I could find on there. Showed up and was even nicer than described and pictured. Excellent all around and shoots very well. They are very high quality rifles through and through. The commercial M98 actioned rifles are also excellent, but have issues cracking behind the tang which can be easily remedied. They provide a bit more of the more authentic Mauser handling.
 
Sharps45-70 said:
I recently purchased a Husqvarna 1640 from Tradeex. I basically just looked for the best condition one I could find on there. Showed up and was even nicer than described and pictured. Excellent all around and shoots very well. They are very high quality rifles through and through. The commercial M98 actioned rifles are also excellent, but have issues cracking behind the tang which can be easily remedied. They provide a bit more of the more authentic Mauser handling.
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1640's suffer from the same tang cracking issue, should be addressed the same way, 1600 series stocks are hard to find.
 
They’re usually great, but be careful. trade ex doesn’t take them apart. They only grade them based on what they can see. I’ve bought a few from them but only the really high grade ones and I’ve still gotten more than one with split wood between the trigger and the mag well that could not be seen without taking the rifle apart. Easy to fix. No big deal, but I wouldn’t have bought it had I known.

For an FN98 or a cheaper Husqvarna for “very good” grade only and preferably one that’s pinned. The Husqvarna 1600/1640 and the Gustafs are way better guns, and are way easier to mount scopes on (high safety on M98s), but are more expensive. My 2 cents.
 
I have bought a few rifles and accessories from Tradeex over the last few years, just finished shopping for another recently I sent two messages to Tradeex over a few weeks that went unanswered, Intersurplus sent me a reply the next day so I purchased from them. Others on another thread are recommending contacting Tradeex by phone rather than email, I have never been disappointed with anything from Tradeex I just needed a little more info to be comfortable with the purchase of a used rifle and contacting by phone is difficult with their hours and my schedule. Selection at Intersurplus was not as great but prices seemed a little lower.
 
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