Another Swede Question

[Canuck65]

I recently bought two of the Carl Gustav guns based on the M96 actions. Both are from the same Canadian dealer. I haven’t fired either but both appear to be in great shape although one MAY have a headspace issue. All of that said I am not complaining; I’m merely curious about whether others buying these old guns have had any issues not pointed out in the descriptions or discovered later? Just a nosy guy I guess.

I have had M96 headspace issues in a 6.5swede I had years ago. Cases were splitting at the neck and shoulder. Otherwise it shot beautifully. Eventually it went to the gunsmith, but for a year before that I just fireformed my brass with a very reduced load and gun show cheapo bullets (to stretch them a little before being loaded the first time), then after first firing a fully loaded round, they fit perfectly. I just did a light .002 shoulder bump and everything was fine.

These days, with the cost of bullets and brass, I’d never do this again. Cheaper to pay the smith to fix it up.

Also, don’t waste money on a gauge. Just measure SAAMI sized vs fired brass. The difference in size will tell you everything you need to know about your chamber dimensions.

 

[RonW]

I was hand loading for years before I took a long break for all shooting. I loaded for both rifles and handguns. When I bought the 6.5s I also got a set of dies and a mould for some casting. I still have a 9.3x57 in mind for some casting fun.

 

[RonW]

My lack of patience got the best of me last night. I took the rifle and some PPU ammo out back and fired two shots from the hip into a bank. All I wanted were the fired cases. Bubba lives. Measurement just above the rebate at base showed no change. Measurements at the shoulder showed + .005. I don’t have a gauge to check the shoulder but a visual doesn’t show any major anomalies. Everything looks good. I’ll segregate my cases and keep my loads within factory parameters and unless you can think of something that I might have overlooked I think the modified CG63 should be good to go.

 

[Potashminer]

Is hard to imagine doing better than re-sizing cases that were previously fired in that chamber. No doubt you know how to set your FL die to only get the parts that need / want sizing for that rifle. And that may or may not be different set-up for your other rifle - or full length size all of it and use the same ammo in both - is up to you. There is at least one process to fire-form new unfired brass to that chamber - involves creating a "false shoulder" - but starting from previously fired factory ammo is UBER common thing to do, I think.

A friend and I each had 308 Win rifles - mine was a Winchester Model 70 and his was a Parker Hale. We could interchange factory ammo or our full length sized hand loads. But (and I forget who had the long chamber), one of us could chamber the other guy's fired brass, and other way around the bolt could not be closed.

 

[Meroh]

Is hard to imagine doing better than re-sizing cases that were previously fired in that chamber. No doubt you know how to set your FL die to only get the parts that need / want sizing for that rifle. And that may or may not be different set-up for your other rifle - or full length size all of it and use the same ammo in both - is up to you. There is at least one process to fire-form new unfired brass to that chamber - involves creating a "false shoulder" - but starting from previously fired factory ammo is UBER common thing to do, I think.

A friend and I each had 308 Win rifles - mine was a Winchester Model 70 and his was a Parker Hale. We could interchange factory ammo or our full length sized hand loads. But (and I forget who had the long chamber), one of us could chamber the other guy's fired brass, and other way around the bolt could not be closed.

I use Lee collet dies, and only resize the neck. I have found that this method prolongs the life of my bras, gives better concentricity, and reduces the frequency of trimming (likely why they last so long.

I have three rifles in 6.5; a 1900 Obendorf M96 (sweetest trigger on any military rifle I ever owned), 1942 HVA M38, and a modern Zastava M70 designated 6.5 x 55 SE. I do not have to segregate brass, however when I load ammo, the two military rifles have longer throats, so I load the bigger, heavier bullets to length for the shorter throat on the Serbian rifle, and they shoot just fine in all three.

Why can I get away with this? Just lucky to have three rifles with similar chambers I guess.

 

[RonW]

I started segregating my brass back when my wife had a Savage 99 and my hunting gun was a Winchester M70. I believed the books that said always to F.L. size for lever guns and I didn’t want to answer to a spouse whose gun wouldn’t chamber stuff I had loaded for her. I’ve just always followed the habit. I’ve also picked up a Lee collet die for the 6.5s. I’m hoping to use the CG63 as a coyote gun if the accuracy is as good as I expect. The other one will become my deer rifle. I’m too old to lug around my 30-06 and the recoil bothers me now. BTW I’ve become a bit fascinated with the Swedish rifles and especially the6.5s. I believe they are away undervalued for the quality I see in mine.