Bought myself a Swedish Mauser.

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Jerry D

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Pictures to follow!

I have a few questions about my M38? Made by Husqvarna in 1941 I believe.

#1 - the cleaning rod - what is it good for? Mine is too short to do the entire barrel or was it designed to go in from both directions and meet at the half way point? Also the knurled end where I assume a patch would go through doesn't actually fit in the barrel. Only the threaded end does which doesn't make sense to me unless there are brushes etc that thread onto this end as well? Also is their a number on the cleaning rod that should match the gun. I see no numbers on the rod itself.

#2 - the rear sight is marked with 2/3/4/5/6 but there is a notch or setting before the 2, almost where perhaps a "1" would go. Would this be the 100 meter distance or 100 yard setting?

#3 - what is the point of the ladder type sight when I put it vertical. There is no notch or anything to line it up with the front post?

#4 When closing the bolt after firing you must push against a spring. I assume this is recocking device. When opening the bolt with the gun on fire, the bolt springs back. I assume this is the cocking spring being released?

#5a) The disk, in the small area, there is a triangle above the 1. This means my overall barrel is in good condition?

#5b) The disk is also marked 2345 in the outer ring with a 907 I believe on the inside ring. There is a stamped triangle above the 0 and below the 3. What does this mean?

5c) I see the word torpedam, overslag, and str. There are two little dots stamped above the O in overslag but I assume its sorta like accents above the e's in french etc etc. There are no other markings in this area.

6) Also how many numbers should I see stamped in complete gun? Right now I'm counting 11 with nothing on the cleaning rod.

7) anyone know how I can protect the threads on the rifle. I was told a peice of plastic was used, did they have plastic in the 40's when this rifle was made? Or did they just leave the threads exposed the whole time?

View the link to see the pictures.

http://yfrog.com/n1img0302hjx

http://img829.imageshack.us/g/img0302h.jpg/
 
Last edited:
Jerry D said:
Pictures to follow!

I have a few questions about my M38? Made by Husqvarna in 1941 I believe.

#1 - the cleaning rod - what is it good for? Mine is too short to do the entire barrel or was it designed to go in from both directions and meet at the half way point? Also the knurled end where I assume a patch would go through doesn't actually fit in the barrel. Only the threaded end does which doesn't make sense to me unless there are brushes etc that thread onto this end as well? Also is their a number on the cleaning rod that should match the gun. I see no numbers on the rod itself.

#2 - the rear sight is marked with 2/3/4/5/6 but there is a notch or setting before the 2, almost where perhaps a "1" would go. Would this be the 100 meter distance or 100 yard setting?

could be, go try it out. If the sight is stable in this notch then it could quite lilky be 100m

#3 - what is the point of the ladder type sight when I put it vertical. There is no notch or anything to line it up with the front post?

#4 When closing the bolt after firing you must push against a spring. I assume this is recocking device. When opening the bolt with the gun on fire, the bolt springs back. I assume this is the cocking spring being released?

Swedish mausers use #### on close like the lee enfield. you will push against the spring when closing the bolt. the usual mauser action was #### on open.

#5a) The disk, in the small area, there is a triangle above the 1. This means my overall barrel is in good condition?

1 indicates excellent bore

#5b) The disk is also marked 2345 in the outer ring with a 907 I believe on the inside ring. There is a stamped triangle above the 0 and below the 3. What does this mean?

not sure

5c) I see the word torpedam, overslag, and str. There are two little dots stamped above the O in overslag but I assume its sorta like accents above the e's in french etc etc. There are no other markings in this area.

as i remember the overslag is somthing to do with overshoot when tested. ie shot at 100m and then see where the bullets hit. This was so is the rifle shot high then it could be compensated for.

6) Also how many numbers should I see stamped in complete gun? Right now I'm counting 11 with nothing on the cleaning rod.
Click to expand...

not sure, but many older rifles have lots of stamps simply becasue of different manufactures, dates, captures by other forces, refurbish dates etc
 
Swedish Mauser

#1....The cleaning rod used a short adapter. You are not in the field or a trench, so do not use the steel cleaning rod that comes with the rifle unless you want to screw up your bore. Use a modern coated rod for cleaning. Enough said....you have been warned.

#3 ... M38 sights only go to 600 meters. If you have a T on the sight at the front, it is for the M/41 Torped pointed ammunition. The "ladder" raises the sight on the ramp to give elevation. If it does not have a T on the front of the sight, it is graduated for the older m/94 ogival (blunt) ammunition.

The "Ladder" type sights are for the m96 Swedish Mauser with the long barrel. They go from 300 to 600 on the top, and from 700 to 2000 by raising the ladder.

#5b....The disk is marked 2345 in the outer ring, and 901 on the inner ring, not 907. This is bore diameter. A mark at the 0 would indicate a bore diameter of 6.50 mm diameter.

#5c....This is a compensation measurement for using the older blunt round nosed bullet. No marks generally means they would shoot to the same point of impact at 100 meters. Rifles are sighted to hit 1 mm above the aiming point.

6....the numbers can vary. The big thing is "Are they all the same or matching numbers, including the stock and buttplate?"

7....There are two pieces of plastic thread protectors. One is a tube type, that is open at both ends. The second one is similar, but has one end closed to protect the bore. You can also buy aftermarket steel thread protectors. E-bay has lots of them.

If you have a threaded barrel, this was done after 1955, and is referred to as the "B" version. The threads are for a blank firing attachment. The Swedes used wooden bullets for blanks, and these were not supposed to be fired at anyone under 100 meters. Of course, accidents happen. The Blank Firing Attachment is threaded onto the barrel of these rifles, and shreds the wooden bullet. Live ammo should not be fired through the BFA because it is closed at the end. Threaded barrel rifles were used mostly for training, but are usually as accurate as non-threaded models.
 
The Swedish Mausers did not really go to war, except for the firearms sent to Finland ('39-'40), so very little of them were ever captured. They do not carry a lot of stampings, neither (for the same reason).

As for the stock disc, it may not (usually not) give the real condition of the barrel, simply because most of those rifles were fitted with random discs after being surplused.
 
The cleaning rod - you get together with your buddies in the squad, screw a bunch together and clean your rifles, hopefully with a swig of Absolut and a few hunting stories are swapped :D
 
Ill post the pictures tonight. All the numbers match. The numbers are 070 and I count 11.

The cleaning rod is just for show. I understand that, I was just wondering why it wouldn't actually fit down the barrel but it seems I use the threaded end with an attachment anyways.

A mark at the 0 would indicate a bore diameter of 6.50 mm diameter.
Click to expand...

Is there an "ideal" bore diameter or a bore diameter better than another? Why would they record this?

I have the T marked sight, so I assume there is no point in actually raising the ladder. Instead I just leave the ladder parrell to the bore and use the 150m-600m settings.

1 more question. This torped ammunition. Anyone recommend a factory load or two or three to try that matches this torped ammunition ballistics?
 
Bore diameter

After the production run of M38 rifles was done, Husqvarna made some M96 rifles in 1943-44 for the Hemvarnet (Home Guard) (later the FSR or Volunteer Shooters Movement), they held the tolerances at 6.49 to 6.50. Apparently Husqvarna also rejected some Carl Gustaf barrels that did not meet this criteria. These rifles were "civilian 96s", sold with the understanding that the government could buy them back in case of emergency. They were made to military standards, but certain modifications such as approved target sights were allowed.

These long rifles were made for the people who could shoot. Of the 18000 made, 12000 were supplied with the AGJ dial adjusted rear sight, that went from 100 to 650 meters.

Torped ammunition is the standard, pointed, military round. If you reload, the 142 grain Sierra Match King, or the 140 grain Sierra Game King work well. Norma makes a similar load for target shooting, but it is more expensive. The Torped m/41 ammunition uses a 139 grain bullet and is quoted as 2510 fps from a M38 rifle.
 
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