M96 (Swedish) Mauser from Tradex Pics up!

collector67

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Just got her today, and as usual, Tradex has excelled in customer satisfaction! Apart from the missing stock disk and a oval dark mark on the buttstock where there once was a nameplate, this (1917 Carl Gustav) rifle looks like brand new. The bore was listed as "good to very good", but after a fairly extensive cleaning, I would upgrade it to "excellent". Blueing is awesome and the bolt looks great; like it was chromed. At $280 shipped, I'm very happy with my purchase, if you are in the market for a Swede Mauser for a decent price, I highly recommend Tradex!:dancingbanana:
 
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The missing Nameplate on the stock gives away the actual owner of your rifle. The stock disk should NOT be there, as this is a privately owned FSR Range rifle. While the Military rifles had stock disks, these rifles did not.

And I do agree with your comments about Trade-Ex. Unfortunately, a lot of Dealers do not give the same level of service that Trade-Ex does.
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I'm another "Tradex" believer....they always under estimate the condition ...it is always better than described....wish more dealers did the same and as far as my two cents go..."Tradex set the bar inre; customer satisfaction that other dealers should strive to meet"
 
Tradeex do business the way it is suppose to be, great stuff at a decent price, really appreciate shopping there... Cheers. JP.
 
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The missing Nameplate on the stock gives away the actual owner of your rifle. The stock disk should NOT be there, as this is a privately owned FSR Range rifle. While the Military rifles had stock disks, these rifles did not.

And I do agree with your comments about Trade-Ex. Unfortunately, a lot of Dealers do not give the same level of service that Trade-Ex does.
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Forgive my ignorance, but may I asks what FSR means? This rifle is drilled and tapped for a side mounted scope as well as diopters...do you happen to know what kind of scope and mount that would be mounted on this riflle?
 
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The FSR is roughly the equivalent of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the United States or the DCRA here in Canada.

After losing a War to Russia in 1809, there was a great interest in Shooting and Defence by the Swedish people. Many Rifle and Gun Clubs were then formed. In 1893 the Centralstyrelsen was formed as a Board to regulate National and Regional shooting. This became the Skytteforbundens Overstyrelse more commonly known as the Skytte OS in 1903 (The Shooters Association Supreme Board)

In 1966 this name was changed to Frigvillga Skytterorelsen or FSR. (Volunteer Shooters Association) It seems in Sweden that these rifles, even though they are included in the earlier Skytte OS period, are refered to as FSR rifles as the names are used interchangeably.

What you did not mention in your first post is the holes drilled and tapped into the receiver for the Diopter rear sights. That really clinches it for identification for a FSR range rifle. After WWII, Diopter sights were approved for competition, and there were several types. If the holes are straight across, that is for the Faldt sight. If there is a slot milled in the receiver and two offset holes, that is the GF sight. If the holes are offset, it depends upon the measurements, as it could be a Soderin, Pramm, Elit. Other common sights were the Hooka, Busk, Lyman 48(M), and Hauges.

Many of these rifles were Civilian purchases, and a lot were on loan to the Gun Clubs from the Army. As such, they were sold or loaned with a stipulation that the Government could buy them back in case of an Emergency. Another stipulation was that the rifle could not be "harmed" but could be easily returned to military standards. The two small holes for the Diopter sights was not considered harmful to the operation of the rifle and target sights could be removed with a screwdriver. However, you could not "Bubba" the rifle by "sporterizing" it or cutting it up.

I would suspect that the scope mounting was done after 1980 when the Swedish Military changed from the Mauser System bolt action rifle and sold off a lot of their obsolete firearms. It would appear that someone has also drilled and tapped the side of the receiver for a side mounted scope base. This might be a bit of a challenge to find one that would fit, as these bases were mostly individually mounted and fitted.

Even in the m/41 Sniper rifles, the hole spacing and locations can vary a bit. Many of the mounts were made slightly oversized and filed to fit the individual rifle or base, then numbered to each other.
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Ok, I think I've gotten it figured out now....as you mentioned, buffdog, it does have the holes where the diopter sights were installed. Notice also the "taller" front sight post-I am hoping that this will nor alter the aim of the stock military rear sight. (many thanks for the info!)










 
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If your rifle seems to have a taller front sight height, the original was probably changed to accommodate the m/41 loading of 139 grain spitzer bullets instead of the 156 grain round nosed ones. This was probably done when the diopter rear sight was put on it.

Is there a " T " stamped on the side of the front sight block?

The scope base mounting holes are in a straight line, which is typical of Civilian mounting systems. The Military m/41 base also had three screws, but the center screw was drilled noticeably higher than the end screws.
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If your rifle seems to have a taller front sight height, the original was probably changed to accommodate the m/41 loading of 139 grain spitzer bullets instead of the 156 grain round nosed ones. This was probably done when the diopter rear sight was put on it.

Is there a " T " stamped on the side of the front sight block?

The scope base mounting holes are in a straight line, which is typical of Civilian mounting systems. The Military m/41 base also had three screws, but the center screw was drilled noticeably higher than the end screws.
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So, with the higher front sight post, do you think I will have aiming issues (shooting high) by using the stock military rear sight? (BTW, is "300" the lowest setting on it?) Also, there is no "T stamped anywhere on the front sight.I'm going to assume it will be damn near impossible to find a replacement diopter sight for this rifle....also, do you know of anyplace I could attempt to find a scope mount?
 
So, with the higher front sight post, do you think I will have aiming issues (shooting high) by using the stock military rear sight? (BTW, is "300" the lowest setting on it?) Also, there is no "T stamped anywhere on the front sight.I'm going to assume it will be damn near impossible to find a replacement diopter sight for this rifle....also, do you know of anyplace I could attempt to find a scope mount?

A higher front post will cause your POI to be lower, not higher.


Mark
 
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