Husqvarna 1640 Commercial Mausers?

[DGY]

Totally agree with bearhunter here, you can’t expect to get a mint condition rifle for the price those rifles sell for! If you want pristine conditions you will have to pay the price and I would say you won’t find that in those old huskies, but like bear said you have a fully functional rifle that will be an excellent hunting rifle, not a show piece but a great hunting rig none the less!

A good old/vintage bolt action rifle in mint conditions will be most likely well over the $1000 mark and from there sky is the limit, a nice rigby or H&H could fetch $20k for easily!

So first thing first what is your max budget for a rifle like you wish to get?

Second are you in a rush to purchase or you are ready to wait until such rifle shows up? Are you picky on chambering or anything good for North America is good enough(think 270, 308, 30-06, 8x57 etc etc) ?

Since you have no experience with wood stock and or metal restoration, I would stay away from the budget second hand firearms, unless you have lots of income dedicated to that then you get the gun in the hands of a reputable gunsmith and let them do there magic!! But it will cost !

I bought a few rifles over the years that were good deals but needed work from me and or from a smith. The last one my Withworth express rifle in 458 win mag. Did the wood work fixing but the metal work had to be done by a smith since I don’t have a lathe….
Anyway all that to say if you want pristine conditions you need to be ready to pay pristine prices unless you get really lucky and find a deal, but they are getting harder and harder to find in these days and age of the internet, people usually know what they have and know the value!
Good luck

 

[Max-4]

I want to start by saying that you are correct, I did infact know what I was getting into before I bought the rifle. I have owned enough military surplus rifles to know that these rifles are all in different condition and unless you are holding the rifle in person you don't know exactly what you are getting. I have exactly $678 into this rifle with tax and shipping. I guess I can be thankful that there are no cracks in the tang or huge gouges out of the wood like some. Its just always a stressor with these surplus rifles cause you know there may be one thats a true 9/10 condition and it wasnt picked.

I think if I could get some of the scratches out of the wood and have the checkering re-done on the pistol grip then maybe a new finish put on the wood it would look good? The trigger guard and bottom magazine metal are aluminum im guessing? I dont even know where to begin with that, are they painted? it seems like the black has come off in chips or flakes?

The crown looks good and the blueing on the receiver and barrel look to be in good shape. IDK I guess my budget to fix this rifle up would be a few hundred bucks, say $300-$400 MAX, now keep in mind I have no idea how much this work costs. At the end of the day I dont want to have $1500 into this rifle and try to sell it and its still just an old Husky. Are there any aftermarket monte-carlo type stocks that are drop ins for the 1640?

PLEASE don't take it out on me that I wasnt expecting to get a beat up rifle for $670, I know these rifles are still quality and id much rather have this over a Savage Axis or Mossberg Patriot any day of the week! I appreciate all of your feedback!

Anybody know of someone in the general GTA who does this type of work? Thanks

 

[BassAckwards]

That 1640 you just got is in excellent condition, as far as I'm concerned. It's most likely been shot very little. If you strip the varnish, then green scrubber it with bar keepers friend, rinse and let dry for a couple days (not leaning against anything or it will warp) mix a little brown stain into some mineral oil, and rub it in. Go get some birchwood casey cold blueing, and follow directions, and the advice from BearHunter, plus the others on here.After all the parts are tiddled up, sand out that barrel channel to make sure it's free floated. Relieve some of the wood at the tang(because Husky's are notorious for being cut to tight), buy some decent epoxy, and bed the front lug, and the rear tang area. I would make you a hundred dollar bet that it will shoot sub moa with that amount of effort, and look good doing it! Best of luck

Bass

 

[BassAckwards]

If you want to re stock it, I've done a couple into Bell&Carlson aluminum bedded M98 stocks. A little dremel work is necessary, but worth it for the quality. They fit well, and are very light.

 

[DGY]

[QUOTE="I think if I could get some of the scratches out of the wood and have the checkering re-done on the pistol grip then maybe a new finish put on the wood it would look good? The trigger guard and bottom magazine metal are aluminum im guessing? I dont even know where to begin with that, are they painted? it seems like the black has come off in chips or flakes?”
[/QUOTE]

I heard bottom metal when aluminum are painted, light Sanding to smooth everything out and a few coats of black gloss or semigloss rattle can paint and you are good as new!!

 

[BassAckwards]

Yes, painting the aluminum bottom metal is easy. I'd primer coat it with zinc chromate first. The other method would be to use powder coating, and bake it on in a small toaster oven that won't be used for food again. Sometimes you can find them at thrift stores, but a brand new one at Walmart is $27.00, about the same price as a pound of powder coat

 

[Backcountryal]

I'd be stoked to get another Husky in as good a condition as that! If it was mine I'd take the barrel and action out of the stock, check out the stock to make sure its all good. And then clean and oil up the metalwork. The bottom metal is very easy to clean down and respray with a rattle can. And while the stock is off, I'd give raise any "dents" etc with a little bit of steam. And then just give a good rub over with some stock oil or furniture polish a couple of times. I wouldnt even bother with a stock refurbish, just wipe it over a few times to get some oil back in to the wood. Then reassemble the whole thing, fit a decent old school scope on it, and just go shoot ####!

 

[Max-4]

Ok, not to be one to waste time I spent the last hour or two to take it apart. Here are some good pics of the stock, bottom metal and receiver/barrel.

What do you guys think?

 

[Max-4]

Coupla more.

 

[DGY]

Man other than the wood bit that is a bit “bruised” the rest looks pretty darn good to me!
And like I said bottom metal is easy enough to deal with!
I think the part of the stock that is the trickiest will be the checkering, but since it is flat top you have lots of meat to play with!

 

[bearhunter]

Max4, IMHO, you got almost double the value for your money out of that rifle.

Other than the trigger, your rifle could be a clone of the one I just rebuilt.

Just put a coat of light oil on it, but don't put any on the receiver, where it will get into the bedding.

The scrape on the trigger guard is unsightly. For now, cover it up with a "felt marker." Later, when you can't handle it anymore, go to CT and purchase a rattle can of automotive "engine" paint, shiny black. Then lightly sand the scraped area and spray on a few light coats, allowing at least an hour between coats.

I would glass bed that stock, no matter how good it looks, and it looks very good to me.

Glass bedding can be done at home, even on the kitchen table. Just put some newspaper or old ad flyers down first.

All you need for tools is a good pocket knife, some masking tape, and a bit of sandpaper.

I mix up the bedding compound on a piece of scrap plastic or cardboard, and discard it when I'm done.

Glass bedding is easy, so look up a few videos on it to get the idea. Save yourself a hundred bucks by purchasing a kit online and DIY.

You will be pleased with the end result, and you will find all sorts of other things you can fix with the rest of the compound that's left over, such as filling in the scratched area of the checkering and then rechecker it. Checkering fixes don't usually require special checkering tools. When your using bedding compound as a filler, you can shape the bottom of anything small enough and rigid enough to match the angles of the rest, then apply a bit of release agent and form the glass bedding to match. You can use a felt marker to match color.

The only thing holding you back is fear. Go for it.

Make sure you put enough release agent onto the receiver so it doesn't become permanently welded to the stock. If the release agent in the kit is dried up, as it sometimes is, furniture paste wax, Pam cooking spray, Kiwi wax shoe polish all work fine and are cheap.

 

[Max-4]

Well I guess first comes the wooden stock, what is my best course of action first? I like the idea of scrubbing something onto the wood to strip the factory finish (whatever that is?).

I'm not afraid of sanding also to get rid of some of the minor scratches. I have never steamed a wooden stock to get rid of dents, I do have a tall steaming machine my wife uses for work clothes. I'll post a pic of what I'm talking about below, we also have your standard clothes iron.

What is the factory finish? Varnish? Once I get the stock back to bare wood what's next, stain, oil? I do have a bottle of Birchwood Casey's Try Oil.

As far as the checkering I have no idea what I'm going to do about that, the damage must be pretty new cause there is no stain or laquer finish on the dents. I have never recheckered anything or cut checkering before.

Thanks in advance guys, I'm gonna have alot of questions with this project! Cheers

 

[bearhunter]

Factory finish on those was Linseed Oil, mixed with Spar Varnish.

 

[DGY]

For dents, I use a clothes iron set it on cotton, with the steam at max, put a damp rag over the dent to be removed out the iron on the damp rag and leave it for a few seconds and check, repeat until the dent is gone, it sometimes work on shallow scratch too!
As for refinishing the stock, best is to remove the actual finish with a paint stripper of some sort, clean really well(mineral spirits work fine) then a stain, that is the hard part is to find a combination of colours that will work. Scherell’s schaftol extra dark work pretty good! Not super easy to find but it is available!
You can start with a coat of boiled linseed oil and super fine wet/dry sandpaper like 600/800grit rub in the oil using the sandpaper keeping the wood “wet” it will form a slurry that will fill the pores of the wood. Keep the wood wet with oil, wipe off the excess after letting it sit for 30minutes or so. Let dry for 24 hrs repeat the same process and let it dry for 24hrs, then move on the the extra dark schaftol, no sand paper, apply with a bare hand or a latex glove and rub vigorously so it creates some heat! Repeat every 24hrs as many coats as you need to achieve the finish you need.

 

[Max-4]

I use Circa 1850 to remove the old finish. Use a stiff tooth brush to work the stripper into the finish and a wooden toothpick to clean out the checkering. Wipe with paper towel, no neutralizer required. Once down to the bare wood use steam to raise any dents, gouges will not raise. Soak the dent with some water, soak a rag and then use a heated bolt to press against the rag placed on the dent. I then lightly sand smooth with 220 sandpaper. Avoid the checkering!
My favorite finish on a walnut rifle stock is black walnut danish oil. I also like a hint of red. First coat of black walnut oil, then 1 coat of cherry danish oil followed by 2 or 3 more black walnut. Apply oil and keep all areas wet for 10 to 15 minutes and then rub off with a cloth and let dry 24 hours between coats. I have a stock of Behr's 600 Scandinavian tung oil finish, unfortunately it's not available any more. 4 coats of that on top, or some thing similar, wet sanded with 0000 steel wool and you are good to go.

This is a factory Husqvarna finished in that style.

View attachment 1091273

What butt pad is that? I'm likely going to look for something other than the plastic one to put back on. I could even do another 1/2" of LOP if needed.

We're those uncle Mike's sling swivel studs the same diameter as the factory ones?

 

[DGY]

For but pad I use limbsaver grind to fit! But that is an entire other procedure and need a bit of knowledge to do properly

 

[Meroh]

Thank you very much for the post, I don't have any experience with refinishing wood or re-blueing metal. I am hopefully receiving the rifle today and I will give it a good look over and post some pics.

Edit: So I received the rifle this morning and had a good look at it. To be honest I am not very happy with the condition of the rifle. I would say the wood furniture is about a 6/10 and maybe the steel blueing is a 7/10. I'm going to say that the trigger guard and floor plate are a different material separate to the receiver and barrel but I'd give that 4/10.

Sucks, cause I really like the way the rifle comes up for me to the shoulder and if this rifle looked brand new I would be in love!

I know that this seems to be par for the course with these surplus mausers. What do you guys think, is there hope for this rifle? Can the stock be cleaned up and refinished? What about the bottom metal? I think maybe I could live with the receiver and barrel blueing, there is only a few scratches here and there. Here's some pics.

I

Thanks for sharing your photos. I'm a bit less concerned with appearances than with form and function. The Husky I have is in similar condition. It is a bit older, and the bottom metal is blued steel, floorplate is not hinged (FN '98 action with no thumb cut). It is in 9.3 x 62. I took the whole rifle apart and found the bluing was at 90%+, the wood was in good shape, but looking tired. Metal got a good cleaning and oiling, I took some of the surface dirt off of the stock with a quick once over with fine steel wool, moistened with mineral spirits. I let it dry overnight, and with a clean, soft rag gave it a quick couple wipes with some minwax tung oil, to just rejuvinate the finish. If it was fancy walnut, it would have gotten a bit more attention. These photos were before cleanup.

Your bottom metal can be lightly sanded and painted with a good, durable 2 part paint, that will last a long time.

 

[Meroh]

For but pad I use limbsaver grind to fit! But that is an entire other procedure and need a bit of knowledge to do properly

With the factory plate on the 9.3 x 62, I am good for 2 or 3 rounds. I use a slip-on limbsaver, and also wear a strap on pad. Good for about 40 rounds before recoil fatigue sets in. I load heavy. LOL

 

[cosmic]

Factory finish on those was Linseed Oil, mixed with Spar Varnish.

AKA Danish Oil...

 

[gordonlbyrne]

love the side mount ,nice looking set up and nice work cleaning it up