I bought a 96 Mauser on the EE, and it came today. It is sporterized and the stock is painted black. It has bases, but I needed rings to mount my old redfield 4x. I took the scope and the rifle to the store, and the 19 year old ales man looked at it and asked if I thought it was safe to shoot, I told him I thought it would probably be ok, and that I had just bought it. He then said that he hoped I got bowl of soup with it. I am now in a new richer class of people, as I have never paid $78 after taxes for a set of rings before. I saved my breath and did not tell him of the reputation of the Swedes...
At the gun store
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Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Ah, the naivete of youth.
If God likes him enough to let him grow to adulthood, he may discover in time that covers are seldom any real indication of the book within, that homely girls are often dangerously fierce in bed, and that old, homely guns will occasionally shoot better than newer flashy guns.
Good score, and well worth good rings and a solid scope. The Swedes are magic.
If God likes him enough to let him grow to adulthood, he may discover in time that covers are seldom any real indication of the book within, that homely girls are often dangerously fierce in bed, and that old, homely guns will occasionally shoot better than newer flashy guns.
Good score, and well worth good rings and a solid scope. The Swedes are magic.
MapleSugar
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- On the loose from NIMH
He not only ripped off RD, but he as good as insulted a customer who happened to be paying his wages.
Dumb little piece of dung needs to get out and shoot some of these lousy old rifles that were made before last week.
IF he knew how to SHOOT, he would definitely get an education.
Some people, however, seem impervious to education; for those ones, unemployment is an attractive option.
I just know that the little idiot would never work in any shop that I managed.
Dumb little piece of dung needs to get out and shoot some of these lousy old rifles that were made before last week.
IF he knew how to SHOOT, he would definitely get an education.
Some people, however, seem impervious to education; for those ones, unemployment is an attractive option.
I just know that the little idiot would never work in any shop that I managed.
- Location
- Beaverlodge, Alberta
Its funny how some shops are like that. There is one in Grande Prairie, any time I go in to pick anything up for one of the old girls and they ask what its for I get the 'ew gross' like old guns are the plague. Then the one is Dawson, if I walk in with a Lee-Enfield I don't get to leave for at least an hour until everyone on the staff has had a chance to have a look and pass on really positive comments. Wonder which one gets my money!
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On the strength of the 96 Mauser, here is a quote from a reloading article on the 6.5x55 by a staff writer in "Guns and Ammo" magazine.
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On a recent moose-hunting trip to Sweden I was fortunate enough to get a tour of the Norma facility. More than 80 percent of the actions used in the company's ballistics lab were the same Model 96 Mausers that were imported into the U.S. I guess this speaks to the strength of the Model 96.
In a good, strong action such as the 96 Swede or 98 Mauser, higher chamber pressures can be handled without any problems. At one time or another, Winchester Model 70s, Remington Model 700s and Ruger Model 77s have all been chambered for the 6.5x55. Numerous European rifle manufacturers still chamber for it. And it's still a favored cartridge of custom riflemakers.
Unfortunately, these instant experts look as something on the Internet and then spout it as the gospel truth, no matter how wrong it is. There was one at a Home Hardware store in Brandon a year or so ago who was absolutely certain that a Bubba sanded Winchester Model 75 was an original factory rifle and expounded it's virtues to me. The older guy behind the counter knew me and just sat back and waited while I let the kid sink deeper and deeper in his own crap. Then I politely unloaded onto the wise little sucker, who, after a couple of minutes, began to realize that he was not as wise as he thought he was. He didn't last long as a Sporting Goods Salesman, and was gone after a couple of months.
And we all know that if you even pick up a Ross rifle, let alone fire it, all that will be left is your boots and a smoking crater in the ground, right?
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On the strength of the 96 Mauser, here is a quote from a reloading article on the 6.5x55 by a staff writer in "Guns and Ammo" magazine.
.
On a recent moose-hunting trip to Sweden I was fortunate enough to get a tour of the Norma facility. More than 80 percent of the actions used in the company's ballistics lab were the same Model 96 Mausers that were imported into the U.S. I guess this speaks to the strength of the Model 96.
In a good, strong action such as the 96 Swede or 98 Mauser, higher chamber pressures can be handled without any problems. At one time or another, Winchester Model 70s, Remington Model 700s and Ruger Model 77s have all been chambered for the 6.5x55. Numerous European rifle manufacturers still chamber for it. And it's still a favored cartridge of custom riflemakers.
Unfortunately, these instant experts look as something on the Internet and then spout it as the gospel truth, no matter how wrong it is. There was one at a Home Hardware store in Brandon a year or so ago who was absolutely certain that a Bubba sanded Winchester Model 75 was an original factory rifle and expounded it's virtues to me. The older guy behind the counter knew me and just sat back and waited while I let the kid sink deeper and deeper in his own crap. Then I politely unloaded onto the wise little sucker, who, after a couple of minutes, began to realize that he was not as wise as he thought he was. He didn't last long as a Sporting Goods Salesman, and was gone after a couple of months.
And we all know that if you even pick up a Ross rifle, let alone fire it, all that will be left is your boots and a smoking crater in the ground, right?
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You can't blame the little punk. I am constantly seeing people my age (34) shelling out $700 plus on new sporting rifles that are made with plastic stocks, plastic parts, cheap machined bolts that are crude and rattle when you cycle them. They shoot okay but feel like junk. Who knows how long they will shoot well.
The point is, my generation and younger think that the only way to get something good is to buy new. They don't understand that the old rifles were well made and will last a lifetime. I guess it's cause we grew up with throw away cars, throw away toys, throw away furniture, etc.
Next time you're in, ask him if he'd like to try shooting sometime. Him with whatever he likes and you with the Swede. Some aren't too stupid to be saved...
The point is, my generation and younger think that the only way to get something good is to buy new. They don't understand that the old rifles were well made and will last a lifetime. I guess it's cause we grew up with throw away cars, throw away toys, throw away furniture, etc.
Next time you're in, ask him if he'd like to try shooting sometime. Him with whatever he likes and you with the Swede. Some aren't too stupid to be saved...
Unlike many of you lucky guys back over there, I only have one Swedish Mauser - a model m/96-38, originally slung together in 1898 in the Carl Gustafs factory. Not being rich enough to buy factory ammunition, nor able to anyhow [it's all soft-point- stuff I cannot have], I'm forced to reload. I find that 39gr of Varget under a 140gr bullet makes a satisfyingly small pattern of around 3-4cm on the target at 100m, regardless how many I shoot at it. Plenty good enough for plinking with an old military surplus rifle, using my old military surplus eyeballs. The bore, examined with an endoscope when I bought it, was mint from one end to the other.
This weekend I'll be trying it out with some 120gr bullets I've been doned by a philanthropic fellow shooter - we'll see how THEY go - there ain't no cheaper than nothing.
tac
This weekend I'll be trying it out with some 120gr bullets I've been doned by a philanthropic fellow shooter - we'll see how THEY go - there ain't no cheaper than nothing.
tac
I have to agree - here are some of my oldies, all full of years and stories, the way I like 'em -
a. 1897 Boer War bring-back DWM Mauser carbine with carved stock. I've traced the history of the man who carried it, and last used it to shoot at a bunch of Australians in 1901.
b. 1898 Swedish Mauser, noted in the previous post.
c. 1912 Mauser Model B - bought in London in 1913 and taken out to Rhodesia, where it stayed until 1990.
d. 1910 BSA Model 1 take-down - a unique little gun made for a boy who died on the Somme a few years later.
e. My dad's Walther Model 2 from 1930.
f. A Walther DSM from 1934 - no story.
g. A Mauser ES350B with matching scope and mounts from 1937. Only a story in the way I acquired it, but no other history.
h. Schmidt-Rubin K96/11, bought in a local R&G store in 1980 - no stories except the ones I've made with it
j. K31 , ditto.
There are a few more, post-war, but still forty-fifty years old, and one newer rifle from 1986 - my Krico 650SS.
Hell, even I'M old, and I still work.
More often than not.
tac
- Location
- Iroquois Falls ON
Last year a young lad asked me to put a Red-Dot on his late fathers SMLE 303. He said "I can't afford a new rifle so dads old gun will have to do",,, "have to do said I",,, "I'll bet this old gun is more dependable than a lot of the new fancy stuff"!!! I don't think that he really believed me, but he does now, two shots at 175 yards, one through the lungs and one through the heart on a nice bull moose. (43" rack). Funny, when he showed me the photo yesterday he wasn't talking about a new gun anymore,,,,,, LOL
Ok I am busted for the typo.. "ales man" instead of salesman... I am a little ways on the dark side of 50, and I know the salesman would have just thought me an old fanatic if I told him what we all know to be true. I am sure his boss would have squirmed if he had heard him. I know we would have had a talk about where cash comes from if he worked for me. The CGN'er who I bought the rifle from said it shot as you would expect a swede to, so it should be as good as anything he had on the shelf,and with the 4x Redfield Command Post scope, it should make as good of a hunting rifle as he had on the shelf. My first 96 mauser I sold to a friend who had never used one when he saw how well it would shoot. And there are no issues of extraction, feeding, parts sticking, parts breaking, recalls etc...
I was out hunting with my Dad in law last week, and I brought along my Turkish Mauser for fun. He isn't easily impressed, but I could see his jaw drop when I showed him the "free hand" groupings I got at (roughly) 100 meters with a mixture of milsurp ammo. (pics up later when I get them from his camera).
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