Husqvarna Model 648 - where can I learn more?

Mr. Friendly

Mr. Friendly

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there's a model in the exchange milsurp forum that caught my eye. while the picture isn't the highest of resolution, it relay's me a beautiful rifle! now, I don't have my PAL yet, soon, very soon (probably after the gun show coming the weekend of the 26/27th), but I'd like to learn more about them.

she's a beaut! :D

here's the picture he supplied:
http://www.bubba-surplus.com/husky_98/P1150001.jpg
 
Basically, what you've got there is a commercial production rifle made by Husqvarna just after WW2. They were built on either a Model 96 action (without the thumb cut on the left side of the reciever) or when available, with FN production Model 98 recievers. I have one in 8mm Mauser based on the 96 action, though it looks from the photo that the one that you are eying is a true 98 action.

These rifles were well built, but can be prone to cracks behind the tang or triggerguard due to the tight tolerances and wood that might have been improperly cured. Even when they are not cracked, many Husky fans relieve some space behing the tang or even glass bed the stocks for better long term durability. In the case of the 96 actioned rifles, the bolts have to be modified to clear a scope, though many were thus equipped with higher see through mounts or used standard Weaver bases with an Aimpoint sight (which does not extend behind the action). Not surprisingly, the 98 action is a bit more desirable if only because it might be easier to scope, not to mention the improvements in the action itself.

Many Swedish guns have been imported in the past several years after they passed a law limiting the number of firearms a person could own with a standard firearms license. Sometimes we get the rifles that have been a bit misused or treated simply as tools, though some very nice examples also make it across the Atlantic. In this case, the rifle that you are looking at is hardly a Bubba, and would have cost its original owner a considerably larger share of his savings than it would cost us to purchase.

With Regards,

Frank
 
Mr. Friendly said:
there's a model in the exchange milsurp forum that caught my eye. while the picture isn't the highest of resolution, it relay's me a beautiful rifle! now, I don't have my PAL yet, soon, very soon (probably after the gun show coming the weekend of the 26/27th), but I'd like to learn more about them.

she's a beaut! :D

here's the picture he supplied:
http://www.bubba-surplus.com/husky_98/P1150001.jpg
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I didn't realize you had hot linked to me. I had a server clean out the other day.

I found some info you might be interested in. The two sites are in Swedish but you can use babblefish to convert.

http://webnews.textalk.com/se/article.php?id=176938

Here's another one:
http://webnews.textalk.com/se/article.php?id=179128

Tradex has a bunch: http://www.tradeexcanada.com/index.php?option=com_paxgallery&task=table&gid=5

Gunboards.com has a " Swedish Civilian & Sporting Firearms" forum. You need to sight up.

These US distributors have Swed's for sale:

ww w.allans-armory.com/aaresult.php?PageId=65
ww w.simpsonltd.com/index.php?cPath=160_228_229

Pete
 
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Beadwindow said:
Basically, what you've got there is a commercial production rifle made by Husqvarna just after WW2. They were built on either a Model 96 action (without the thumb cut on the left side of the reciever) or when available, with FN production Model 98 recievers. I have one in 8mm Mauser based on the 96 action, though it looks from the photo that the one that you are eying is a true 98 action.

These rifles were well built, but can be prone to cracks behind the tang or triggerguard due to the tight tolerances and wood that might have been improperly cured. Even when they are not cracked, many Husky fans relieve some space behing the tang or even glass bed the stocks for better long term durability. In the case of the 96 actioned rifles, the bolts have to be modified to clear a scope, though many were thus equipped with higher see through mounts or used standard Weaver bases with an Aimpoint sight (which does not extend behind the action). Not surprisingly, the 98 action is a bit more desirable if only because it might be easier to scope, not to mention the improvements in the action itself.

Many Swedish guns have been imported in the past several years after they passed a law limiting the number of firearms a person could own with a standard firearms license. Sometimes we get the rifles that have been a bit misused or treated simply as tools, though some very nice examples also make it across the Atlantic. In this case, the rifle that you are looking at is hardly a Bubba, and would have cost its original owner a considerably larger share of his savings than it would cost us to purchase.

With Regards,

Frank
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The one I had for sale was a Husky Receiver.
 
Pblatzz said:
The one I had for sale was a Husky Receiver.
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You've tickled my curiosity. I had been under the impression that Husqvarna only made Model 96 actions and imported the 98 recievers from FN, later adding newer designs of their own. In any event it's still a nice rifle.

Cheers,

Frank
 
Beadwindow said:
You've tickled my curiosity. I had been under the impression that Husqvarna only made Model 96 actions and imported the 98 recievers from FN, later adding newer designs of their own. In any event it's still a nice rifle.

Cheers,

Frank
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Husqvarna is a whole new/old world of solid firearms. Smooth actions (I prefer the 98's and more recent rifles) Cool calibers, the Beech stocks are ok, but I love walnut.

I would like on in 9.3x63, M98 type action....

Pete
 
HVA did not make any M98 actions of their own. Mainly they used FN Commercial ones. Most were marked with the Husqvarna markings,some were not. There is also speculation about some converted military 98 actions. Nothing conclusive from what I can find though.
 
Woodbeef said:
Most were marked with the Husqvarna markings,some were not. There is also speculation about some converted military 98 actions. Nothing conclusive from what I can find though.
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From what I know earlier actions were FN but later on they made their own. Any military action was very early as with the FN actions.
 
Woodbeef said:
The HVA made 1600 and 1900 actions were marked on the left rail. There is quite a debate whether the 1600 is an updated M94/96 or updated M98 action. Or maybe a bit of both.
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I have one, I would put my money on a mix of both. 98 style bolt, smooth side action, trigger is Mauser and could be a mix of both designs. Safety is unique.
They came in, 6.5x55 , 8x57, 9.3x62, 358 Norma mag, 30-06, Anything else?

Pete
 
thank you for all the replies! what you've said has helped me some...but it raises a few more questions. the biggest would be about what the differences between the M96 and M98 actions are and why one is better then the other, or if that's not really the case, the pro's and con's of each.

forgive my ignorance, I'm a n00b who's yet to get his PAL, but will soon after he attends the Kamloops 2008 Gun Show :)

edit - adding the 1600 & 1900 variants makes things even more confusing. is there any way to correlate that against or with the M96 and M98 actions? :confused:
 
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I don't think that you need to worry too much about the different Husky actions, since they have all withstood the test of decades of use. One of the differences between the 96 and 98 actions is that the latter has a third locking lug as an added safety measure in the event that the two lugs at the front of the bolt should catastrophically fail. Unless you're prone to run through no-mans land and have to fire off your rifle after it's gotten coated with mud and water in the barrel or reciever, or reload your own ammo to ridiculously high levels, you needn't worry about the lack of that feature in the 96 action. The 98 is slightly better designed to handle escaping gas from a ruptured case, though if you wear normal eye protection, that too should not be reason for grave concern either.

The later 98 actions are usually capable of handling higher pressures than the 96 action, but in standard loadings like 6.5x55, 8x57JS, 9.3x57 or even 9.3x62, the 96 should work fine. Many 96's have even been adapted to fire 30.06 and .270. The only thing that one might want to consider is that some Swedish 96 actions were made originally as commercial hunting rifles (mostly by Husqvarna), while some of the post-war sporters (i.e. the Stiga rifles) were made from military surplus recievers that were refurbished and mated to commercial barrels. Consequently, it's anyone's guess as to how heavily those recievers were used before being reassembled into sporting rifles, though the same could be said for many sporters based on 98 actions.

One difference that some people find significant is that the 96 action cocks on the closing (just like the Lee Enfields) while the 98s #### upon the opening of the action. To people who are used to the later (that's found on most modern hunting rifles) they sometimes find the #### on closing a bit uncomfortable. It hardly bothers me.

I'm not really familiar with the 1600 and 1900 actions, though I believe that they're #### on opening designs that are probably based on the 98 action. In either case, worrying about which is stronger would be no less absurd than heading into your local sporting goods store and worrying about whether the Savage 110 or Remington 700 action is built stronger.

If you're really interested in these rifles, I think that you should be more concerned with the issues surrounding the possible cracking in many older stocks, or learn about the different scope mounting options and familiarize yourself with what features may be most conducive to utilizing optics (i.e. modified bolt handles, different mounts, side or swing safeties that can be added to the 96 or 98 actions etc.). There's lots to read at the gunboards forums on these matters, that would be well worth your time.

Regards,

Frank
 
This a good source for information on Husqvarna firearms, including date of manufacture, and model info. http://www.skydevaaben.com

Model 640 series Husqvarnas (model 646, model 648, and model 649) were built on three different actions: FN military mausers (with thumb cut-out), FN commercial mausers (no thumb cut-out), and a proprietary Husqvarna action that is basically a Husqvarna military model 38 minus the thumb cut-out. Tradeex refers to this last action in their ads as the "commercial model 96 action" - and it is, sort of. The model 38 Swedish mauser is a derivative of the model 96 Swedish mauser.

The model 46 Husqvarna bolt action rifle was actually built on model 94 swedish carbine action, and not the model 96 swede as is often reported. The source of this information is the Swedish language reference book titled "Husqvarna Jaktvapen 1870 - 1977".

I have a few older Husqvarnas - a model 46 - 9.3x57, 46A in 9.3x57, 46B - 6.5x55, and a model 648 - 8x57. My 648 is built on the FN action with thumb cut-out.
 
awesome guys, thank you for all the information you've shared! I have one more question at this moment about Husqvarna rifles. are there any, milsurp or commercial models that stand out above the rest in any way?
 
go to this thread, you'll find the difference between the actions / models by HVA; http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=247277&highlight=hva

One of the differences between the M94/96/38 and the FN made M98 is that the M94/96/38 is a small ring, just like the others M93/M95, designed before the coming of higher pressure rounds (the 7.92X57JS or 8X57JS the forecomer of all high pressure rounds, wich was totally redesigned in 1905 and brang the M98 large ring - the pressure of the round was raised from about 47 000 PSI to 57 000 PSI MAP).
The later FN M98 "H" type were re-designed when NATO wanted to find a new round wich will achieve the higher velocities and pressure or equal the military loads of the time in a shorter case with new powders. Most of these experimental rounds were averaged at 62 000 to 67 000 PSI (proof loads) and in 1952, when they finally set (under U.S. pressure to adopt it) on the 7.62X51, they also set the "working" pressure back to 50 000 PSI. But Winchester introduced the .308 Win, wich have a MAP of 60 000 PSI.
The FN H type was widely used, in it's commercial form, to handle the fury of the then top of the notch pressure wise Weatherby Magnums (the first wave, anyways).
All later designs from HVA (namely 1640 and 1900) were also made for the higher end of modern pressure range.
 
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