Husqvarna Sporting Rifles #### - ALL MODELS!!!
- Thread starter Baribal
- Start date
Use a cleaning rod with either a jag or a bore brush, put a line in the rod so you can see when it makes a full revolution. Before you pull the rod put another mark at the muzzle on the rod.
Pull your rod through until it makes one full turn, then measure how fare the rod was pulled out. If you pulled it 10" to make a full revolution, then you have a 1 in 10 rifling.
I hope this helps.
How it started:
I recently bought a Husqvarna 1640 to make into a precision rifle for my girlfriend. We were at the gun show looking for a well looked after rifle in one of the 6mm calibres.
I was not familiar with Husqvarna, but I had been looking closely at one at a previous show. Two friends of mine whose opinions I trust both assured me that they were very well made, quality firearms. What struck me was how smooth and sure the action was. In comparison, my Remington 700 seems loose and sloppy. It was like rattling around a broom handle in a golf bag next the to Husqvarna.
As chance would have it, a former colleague of mine was selling off some of his collection and this was one of the rifles he had on offer. It was in 6.5x55mm Swedish and had a heavy target barrel with a recessed crown. A friend of mine has a Tikka in 6.5 Swedish, and he is very impressed with the calibre. My girlfriend liked the feel and balance of the rifle. I used to live in Sweden and have a bit of a soft spot for Scandinavian things, so we made the purchase. Got the friends & family discount, took it home for $600.00
How it's going:
Got it home and couldn't find the serial number. Had to loosen the action screws to drop the stock a little bit to find it on the left side of the receiver. Serial number is 264245. The action is drilled and tapped with four screws. Unfortunately, the screws are right in the middle of the HVA royal cipher and the sight rail will cover it completely. Upon closer examination, I found a crack running along the length of the buttstock on the right side, from the grip all the way to the buttplate. It's too bad, because I really liked the feel and colour of the wood, but I would have needed to replace it anyways. I still plan on keeping the original stock though. You just never know about those things.
I wanted to get a GRS laminate stock in order to keep the rifle as Scandinavian as possible. Unfortunately, they don't make ambidextrous stocks, nor do they make ones in purple any longer (her favourite colour is purple), so I had to order one from Boyd's instead. I wanted a detachable magazine for it, so I contacted some gunsmiths in Sweden who I thought were more familiar with Husqvarna. None of them knew of any suppliers, but one mentioned that the 1640 is an improved Mauser 98 action, so anything that fits the 98 should also fit my 1640. I contacted Pacific Tool & Gauge, broke out my digital calipers, and compared the measurements of our 1640 to the specs for their bottom metal, calling their customer service people to confirm my results. It should all go together (fingers crossed) and my gunsmith who I have arranged to do any necessary inletting and bedding also has a laser engraver that he will use to reproduce the HVA cipher on the right side of the new buttstock.
I have since read on this thread that the 1640 is not suited as a precision action, which is a bit of a downer, but it's not like we're competitive shooters who do this for money. We just go out to the range for fun and I want her to have a rifle that is custom to her, that she enjoys shooting, and won't break the bank. She's named the rifle Maggie. So far, so good.
I recently bought a Husqvarna 1640 to make into a precision rifle for my girlfriend. We were at the gun show looking for a well looked after rifle in one of the 6mm calibres.
I was not familiar with Husqvarna, but I had been looking closely at one at a previous show. Two friends of mine whose opinions I trust both assured me that they were very well made, quality firearms. What struck me was how smooth and sure the action was. In comparison, my Remington 700 seems loose and sloppy. It was like rattling around a broom handle in a golf bag next the to Husqvarna.
As chance would have it, a former colleague of mine was selling off some of his collection and this was one of the rifles he had on offer. It was in 6.5x55mm Swedish and had a heavy target barrel with a recessed crown. A friend of mine has a Tikka in 6.5 Swedish, and he is very impressed with the calibre. My girlfriend liked the feel and balance of the rifle. I used to live in Sweden and have a bit of a soft spot for Scandinavian things, so we made the purchase. Got the friends & family discount, took it home for $600.00
How it's going:
Got it home and couldn't find the serial number. Had to loosen the action screws to drop the stock a little bit to find it on the left side of the receiver. Serial number is 264245. The action is drilled and tapped with four screws. Unfortunately, the screws are right in the middle of the HVA royal cipher and the sight rail will cover it completely. Upon closer examination, I found a crack running along the length of the buttstock on the right side, from the grip all the way to the buttplate. It's too bad, because I really liked the feel and colour of the wood, but I would have needed to replace it anyways. I still plan on keeping the original stock though. You just never know about those things.
I wanted to get a GRS laminate stock in order to keep the rifle as Scandinavian as possible. Unfortunately, they don't make ambidextrous stocks, nor do they make ones in purple any longer (her favourite colour is purple), so I had to order one from Boyd's instead. I wanted a detachable magazine for it, so I contacted some gunsmiths in Sweden who I thought were more familiar with Husqvarna. None of them knew of any suppliers, but one mentioned that the 1640 is an improved Mauser 98 action, so anything that fits the 98 should also fit my 1640. I contacted Pacific Tool & Gauge, broke out my digital calipers, and compared the measurements of our 1640 to the specs for their bottom metal, calling their customer service people to confirm my results. It should all go together (fingers crossed) and my gunsmith who I have arranged to do any necessary inletting and bedding also has a laser engraver that he will use to reproduce the HVA cipher on the right side of the new buttstock.
I have since read on this thread that the 1640 is not suited as a precision action, which is a bit of a downer, but it's not like we're competitive shooters who do this for money. We just go out to the range for fun and I want her to have a rifle that is custom to her, that she enjoys shooting, and won't break the bank. She's named the rifle Maggie. So far, so good.
That's certainly my hope. I have only seen good reviews of these rifles so far, and the bore looks really good.
Will it be as accurate as a $10,000 custom Bergara or Sako with a fancy, high end chassis? Of course not. But neither my girlfriend nor I are good enough shooters to justify a $10,000 custom rifle either.
If we can get a final product that is very accurate and fun to shoot by amateur, recreational standards, we’ll call it a win. And it will cost a damn sight less than a fancy new rifle, even if you include the range fees, my gas to drive there, and supper in the restaurant that evening.
The other part of it is my girlfriend is a social person. She likes to meet people, visit, and make new friends. This rifle will be a great conversation piece and create interest in a way a new rifle probably wouldn’t.
Got the one piece, 20 MOA rail in the mail yesterday, only to find the vendor sent the wrong item. Hopefully they can get the correct one in the mail soon.
I'm sure it will be plenty accurate, especially with quality loads. The downside is that the thin, light-ish hunting barrel likely won't be up to sending bullet after bullet. But I may be wrong. I'm taking mine (30-06) out to the range in two weeks and I'll report back.
You know, if they can make a M/94/96/38 to shoot competition matches (CG63 / 80), I can't see why the 1640 can't do the same or even better...
As for the HVA crest vs mount holes, nomally, the top hole is outside the stamping while the bottom one is slightly into the bottom between both legs of the "H" above the Sweden stamping,
The SN may be the original one for that rifle, but if so, it was restamped as per HVA's SN were stamped on the barrel. Since this rifle had the barrel replaced, if it's really it's original SN, it would make it a 1962 vintage.
Really nice. That barrel is really sharp. And as stated above. Don’t knock it till you shoot it. I did not like the actions on the m96 when I first got it. Now I love both the 96 and the 98 and have been selling off my modern rifles and buying these old husqvarnas. Way better feeling
This is really good news. When I first heard that the 1640 wasn't suited to this purpose, I'm not going to lie. I was a little crestfallen. So to learn otherwise has made a good morning even better. And thank you for the info on the date of manufacture. It's always nice to learn more things about the rifle.
The new stock has arrived. The girlfriend loves the colour and grain of the wood, and she is pretty excited about the project. Man, it is so nice having a girlfriend who actually wants to come out to the range with me!
There will have to be some inletting done to allow for the bolt handle and the heavy barrel, but that was expected. The important thing is that the action screws line up.
Also had a little set back with the sight rail. Ordered a PH/05-20 20MOA rail for an Antonio Zoli 1900 from Optics Trade (https://www.optics-trade.eu/ca/contessa-picatinny-rail-for-antonio-zoli-az-1900-20-moa.html). When it arrived, I got a PH/37-20 for a Sako A5 instead. Sent an e-mail to their customer service people; heard nothing back. Phoned them after a couple of days. Spoke to a fellow who said his colleague would get in touch; nothing happened. So yesterday I contested the transaction through Pay-Pal. Lo and behold, bright and early this fine morning I find a message from Optics Trade full of contrition and apologies. They said they are out of stock on the PH/05-20 at the moment, but will send me one as soon as they can. We shall see....
In the meantime, the next purchase will be the various cleaning materials, like one piece rod, brushes, jags, bore-guide, and so forth.
Is that a Boyd’s? I like the colour!
It is indeed a Boyd's stock. The colour selection is Royal Laminate.
Unfortunately, the vendor (Optics Trade.eu) has refunded my purchase of the sight rail. It seems they can't get one back in stock after all. To be honest, they seemed like a shady operation. Looked real good on the website, but actually talking to a real person was exceptionally difficult.
Looking around for an alternate vendor is not proving easy. I would like to find a picatinny rail that will use all four anchor points on the receiver. There are lots of spin off companies for the Optics Planet operation, but given my recent experience with them, they do not fill me with confidence.
Does anyone know of a reputable, and preferably Canadian, vendor who can provide a Contessa PH05/20 sight rail, or an equivalent product?
Unfortunately, the vendor (Optics Trade.eu) has refunded my purchase of the sight rail. It seems they can't get one back in stock after all. To be honest, they seemed like a shady operation. Looked real good on the website, but actually talking to a real person was exceptionally difficult.
Looking around for an alternate vendor is not proving easy. I would like to find a picatinny rail that will use all four anchor points on the receiver. There are lots of spin off companies for the Optics Planet operation, but given my recent experience with them, they do not fill me with confidence.
Does anyone know of a reputable, and preferably Canadian, vendor who can provide a Contessa PH05/20 sight rail, or an equivalent product?
To be more specific, they didn't initiate the refund. Pay Pal forced their hand when I disputed the transaction. I tried resolving the matter through their customer service, but after e-mails, a phone call, and a week with no response, I decided to get Pay Pal involved.
The sight rail finally arrived. It took some doing and some detailed vendor search, but I finally have it now.
It's a 20 MOA rail, which made it a little harder to source. Most of the rails available for the 1640 were zero MOA.
Now just waiting for the bottom metal to arrive from PT&G, and according to the tracking, that should be sometime this week. I feel like a kid on Dec 23, waiting for this thing to arrive. As soon as it is here, I can take it all down to the gun smith for the inletting and bedding. Hopefully that doesn't take him long to do, as we are really itching to get this rifle out on the range.
It's a 20 MOA rail, which made it a little harder to source. Most of the rails available for the 1640 were zero MOA.
Now just waiting for the bottom metal to arrive from PT&G, and according to the tracking, that should be sometime this week. I feel like a kid on Dec 23, waiting for this thing to arrive. As soon as it is here, I can take it all down to the gun smith for the inletting and bedding. Hopefully that doesn't take him long to do, as we are really itching to get this rifle out on the range.
And here is my 1640 in 30-06. She's pretty pristine, just needs some TLC, a bit of cleaning and oiling. I'll take her out to the range this weekend, and see. However, I have an uneasy feeling that my Howa 1500, also in Thuddy Ought Six may be destined for the EE or consignment. The bolt on this thing is just astounding, and the cheek weld is just so easy. The shoulder mount and LOP are awesome. The only slightly negative thing is the trigger, which feels pretty heavy. As far as I can decipher the serial number, it's a 1957 vintage rifle. I don't know what the brand is of the scope, but it's a non-zooming 4x3.1 (?) with excellent image quality.
The wood is gorgeous, has spalting in places and there's no checking, cracks or chips anywhere.
The wood is gorgeous, has spalting in places and there's no checking, cracks or chips anywhere.
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That's pretty interesting. It still has the black buttpad with the HV crest, which means it was likely transferred over from the original stock. Thank you.
Also, I remember seeing this info in the thread, but I can't find the post. Is there a source for aftermarket buttpads fot the Huskys? I took her out to the range yesterday and put 20 150grainers down the tube with cooling every 5 rounds. It beat my shoulder up pretty good.
