Help with value of a Swede 96/38 .... bubba was here.

J

johnrw

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Trying to put a value on this 96/38. It's in rough shape with a cracked handguard:



cracked stock (yes it goes all the way through):


and the bolt has been bent and chewed up:






The bore looks OK, fairly bright with lots of rifling.

TIA
 
Cracked Handguard, cracked Butt both easy to repair. Do it right and they will barely show.

I have seen them with bent and straight bolts both.

Wait until Buffdog gets here; he knows Swedes very well indeed.

I don't do 'values' at all. Looks to me like a nice short rifle wanting some TLC.

Give it that and it should sit up and dance for you.
 
Looks like a nice little EDIT M96/38 hiding under that crud. Let's see the receiver ring, please, and check out the date.

The threaded muzzle is quite normal - its to fit the blank firing attachment. The bullet was made of wood, and shattered into shreds on hitting the baffles, and deflected downwards into the ground, or, in the case of my pal Andy over here, into your naked-all-but-a-sandal right foot.:D

tac
M96 #896
 
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You can't easily unbend that bolt, but if you did, and you were able to clean it up, and it has a good bore, it could pass as a shooter at Milsurp events. Unbubba'd it would typically go for about $350, fixed up and fully disclosed, perhaps $250.
 
Personally, I would be inclined to swap out the bolt body. That bubba work might not affect function, but it sure looks ugly.
 
o/p, at least your rifle doesn't resemble a frankenmauser, indeed the rifle has been beat up a bit. Value wise, I would put this rifle in the 250-300$ range.


Myself, I don't mind that "been there" look. The cracks don't look beyond repair by any means. I have seen worse. There may be a reference section for stock repairs on CGN, failing that, I suggest going to www.surplusrifleforum.com (SRF). Look up the stock care section and "Candyman" and "Gunfreak25" have a bunch of pictures and how - to's to repair those cracks. Removing the red paint from the stock disc is easy, the repairs themselves will require an epoxy injected into the cracks if I'm not mistaken. Oh, and for stock care, boiled linseed oil and 0000 steel wool work well together as an oil scrub, the technique is also found on the SRF.

good luck, Marc
 
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I would say that you have the makings of a pretty good "shooter" in this rifle. Because of the non-factory bent bolt and a bit of rust on the receiver ring, it is not one that a Collector would consider except if it were a "rare" date or model - which it is not.

The barrel has been Factory replaced after 1955 so it should be fairly good unless it was badly treated. As mentioned, the cracks should be fairly easy to repair and the stock can benefit from a MODERATE refinishing - just go easy and consider more of a cleaning than a sanding.

The red paint on the stock disk was probably applied by an Armourer to denote an Unsericeable rifle that was to be sent into the Armory or Repair station for repair - probably because of the stock crack. Usually the disk would have been removed and the red paint applied to the stock disk hole.

So, because of the bolt modifications and the condition, it is a shooter that you or someone could get a lot of pleasure from. The sights are zeroed at 300 meters with m41 military ball ammunition -- 139 grain bullets, and seem to have the later sight modifications - a U shaped rear notch and straight sided front sight. The Upper Handguard was probably cracked when someone tried to remove it - some of them are quite tight.
 
samsplacci71 said:
... for stock care, boiled linseed oil and 0000 steel wool work well together as an oil scrub, the technique is also found on the SRF.

good luck, Marc
Click to expand...

Respecfully, but IME bronze wool works better. Steel wool tends to leave tiny particles in the grain that eventually turn black, leaving unsightly and multitudinous little stains.

tac
 
Sorry to revive the zombie thread but I have done a little work on this.

Had the bolt handle straghtened


There is still evidence of the damage - but I think it looks ok considering



Repaired the crack


Screw and dowel so it won't happen again



glued up the handguard




I think it looks a little better now

 
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Looks to me like you have done a pretty decent job there on your rifle. I have a couple here I need to get cracking on at some point in the not too distant future.
 
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