Tradex Swede Mausers
- Thread starter collector67
- Start date
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
These guns are the "residue" of gun control in Scandinavia. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland (pick one) has UK-like restrictions on the number of guns a shooter can own. When guys upgrade, they go big and the old, well-used target rifles have to go somewhere. Rather than be destroyed, Trade Ex has local buyers who ask around and we become the beneficiaries.
highlander
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Newfoundland
Also, from my own expeience, Anthony tends to under-rate his guns; the guns are usually in better condition then he judges them.
Actually I think it is more like Anthony is more realistic in his descriptions and too many of the other Dealers tend to be over optomistic about things like bore condition, and such.
Trade-Ex also has a very good reputation as a Dealer.
If you are thinking of buying one for shooting, then bore condition is a big factor. Choose one with a very good bore at least.
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X2, I have bought from Tradex in the past and have always been very satisfied with them.."good" tends to mean "excellent", and "very good" is like brand new.
1917 Swede, Elit Diopter
I just bought one from them. Received it last week. I believe the trade was really fair, I got what I expected and the rifle shoots really well. I am very happy with them, I order some parts from them in the past and I was always happy. I will deal again with that dealer.
I just bought one from them. Received it last week. I believe the trade was really fair, I got what I expected and the rifle shoots really well. I am very happy with them, I order some parts from them in the past and I was always happy. I will deal again with that dealer.
About 3 months ago, I bought a 1912 dated Swedish Mauser from Tradex. It is like brand new. It was 295.00 plus shipping. I haven't touched the iron sights but I am able to shoot a 3-4 inch group at 100 yards without a problem. I have to use a 6 o'clock hold though if I want to get near the bullseye. I also shot a fat whitetail doe with it in November. I am thinking about getting another with diopter sights. Does anyone know if diopter sights would be effective for hunting ?
The sights on Military type rifles are calibrated for the type of ammunition that the Military uses, not commercial hunting ammunition. In most cases, these sights are Zeroed at 300 yards, as the intended target is man sized, not a bullseye. Therefore, they shoot high at 100 yards, but would be within a man sized target at that range.
The diopter sights on the Military type Swedish rifles are intended to give more accurate aiming on a target range, not hunting conditions. As such, they are not really the best for the average hunter, as they have a more narrow field of view.
In the United States and Canada, it was common practice to install peep sights, such as the Lyman, Williams or Redfield on hunting rifles and use the insert to zero the rifle and test ammunition, but remove the insert disc for hunting use as it gives a better field of view. This was readily done before the 1950s, but has fallen in popularity since then because of the influx of inexpensive scopes that now are fairly reliable.
If you want a rifle for hunting, then there are a lot of good sporting rifles available from Trade-Ex that are more suitable for hunting, and at a reasonable price too.
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if you get a chance to get one with a ''Helqvist''or ''Norma'' peep sight grab it-they are scarce as hens teeth and probably about the finest hunting [not target]peep sight you could get[ a simple reciever mounted ghost ring with protective ears ].I have two-one on a 6.5x55 and one on a 9.3x57.I bought my last one-the 6.5x55 ,a few weeks ago -strictly BECAUSE it had that sight.They only show up on Tradeex once or twice a year-if you're lucky.I've never seen one in gun shows or advertised alone-only on a rifle.
As for Tradeex descriptions-the 6.5x55 was decribed as having a ''good'' but not ''excellent'' barrel-when I got it home,it sure looked ''excellent'' to me-these people have built a well deserved reputation for ''underpromise over perform''-and thats rare today.
As for Tradeex descriptions-the 6.5x55 was decribed as having a ''good'' but not ''excellent'' barrel-when I got it home,it sure looked ''excellent'' to me-these people have built a well deserved reputation for ''underpromise over perform''-and thats rare today.
Diopter on swedish mauser
Mine has the Elit Edström Diopter and the front globe is UNIVERSAL... Which translate into a globe sight that seems to be compatible with Anschutz/modern inserts... It is very interesting since I can purchase new inserts to have a crosshair, a front post or any target sights I want.
Although I think the Elit front globe are more valuable (rare, old, well built), it is nice to be able to find inserts easily.
Mine has the Elit Edström Diopter and the front globe is UNIVERSAL... Which translate into a globe sight that seems to be compatible with Anschutz/modern inserts... It is very interesting since I can purchase new inserts to have a crosshair, a front post or any target sights I want.
Although I think the Elit front globe are more valuable (rare, old, well built), it is nice to be able to find inserts easily.
I bought a 1900 Oberndorf Mauser M96 from Tradeex last year that was all matching including the original fiddleback walnut stock for $280. All I can say is WOW. Get while the gettin's good! The value on these can only go up. The quality of these rifles is incredible and in my biased opinion every Mauser collector should have at least one. For the money you can't buy a more accurate rifle.
When de-arsenaled (as in sold to the ppublic out of milirary service), very may of these rifles had the stock discs removed and the hole filled with sealing wax. I made one out of brass, but it sits WAY proud. I couldn't get it to part off thin enough without bending :S
The stock disks are not prone to fall off. Early ones had nails in them and later ones were screwed on with one or with two screws. Also, while the stock disks were removed for Civilian and Gun Club use inside Sweden, the military rifles sold and exported in the 1980s and the carbines sold in the 1960s did not have the stock disks removed from them.
The stock disk should be present on Government owned rifles. Many of the rifles that Trade-Ex is selling are rifles that were owned by Civilians or Gun Clubs in Sweden. These are FSR target rifles, and you will notice that they have full military stocks on them.
These rifles were sold to Civilians for target shooting, and had to be inspected regularly. One provision was that the Government could buy these rifles back in time of War, so no modifications, sporterizing or "Bubba" conversions were allowed. The mounting of good target sights was allowed, as drilling and tapping a couple of small holes did not impede the functioning of the rifle for military purposes.
During the early 1980s the Swedish Government sold off most of their Military stores of the bolt action m/94, m/38 and m/96 rifles. What we are seeing now are mostly the Civilian rifles. On these rifles, the stock disk was to be removed. Therefore, these Trade-Ex rifles without a stock disk are correct even though they do not have the stock disk.
Sometimes, these rifles were given away as prizes for shooting contests or fundraising, and these will have an event plate on the stock with the Organization that sponsored the rifle, and even the name of the Winner. Other FSR rifles are found with a silver shield or plate on them with an owners name, some others were filled with wax, paper varnished over, or a reversed stock disk with a name or initials.
Generally these rifles are a bit more accurate than the ordinary Military issue rifle. They were owned personally and taken care of accordingly by shooters who valued them. They are generally more accurate because of the target sights on them, and if you think about it, who would put an expensive set of target sights on a rifle that did not shoot well. There were plenty of choices of rifles available, and only the more accurate ones were selected by any shooter worth his salt for competitions.
So, just because a rifle does not have a stock disk, do not be in a big hurry to put one on it, or condemn it as being incomplete.
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Here is an example. Both of these rifles are M/96 rifles made in 1900 by Mauser OB in Germany and have serial numbers under 5000. The bottom rifle has a stock disk hole. The top rifle has NO stock disk hole. Both are original stocks.
The bottom rifle should actually be like the top rifle. The top rifle is an original one of four known ones out of a relatively unknown Contract for 5000 rifles with serial numbers from 1 to 5000 that were made for the FSR. Most of these rifles were actually bought by or donated to the Military, and thus had the hole for the stock disk put in when going through the Arsenal for acceptance.
Strictly speaking, the bottom rifle is not "original" as it had NO provision for the stock disk in the first place. However, because it was bought or handed over to the Military, who did the modification, it could also be considered "original," as the work was done at an Arsenal.
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Here is another example. This one is a 1902 Carl Gustafs rifle that was purchased for a Prize rifle for a fund raising shoot in 1903, and probably never did see Military service. With that close a date, does anyone think that it is not "original" the way it is, except for the upgrading of target sights later on in it's life. It was then put up again as a Prize rifle in 1930. The FFSFF translates to "The Association for Stockholms Fixed Defences." This Civilian group raised moneys to construct 55 kilometers of bunkers, trenches and gun emplacemants North and South of Stockholm, using lakes in between them as natural obstacles.
Is anyone here crazy or stupid enough to tear off those plaques and put a stock disk on this rifle?
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I picked up one of their CG63's a couple years ago. It was described as very good and was easily better than that. It has the smoothest action I have ever cycled and is capable of much better accuracy then I am. Every time time I take it out I am impressed with the quality.
