If anyone knows of a husquevarna lightweight rifle or one in a mannlicker stock please let me know!. I might be interested in getting one.
Husqvarna Sporting Rifles #### - ALL MODELS!!!
- Thread starter Baribal
- Start date
The prices are low right now because of how many were flooding the markets for the last ten years, here in North America and other markets.
These rifles are easily as good as most, not all, off the shelf rifles being sold today, starting at the $1K point.
Whether they will rebound in price soon??????????????????
The prices at Intersurplus are very good, but there's a good reason they are. They're trying to move as many as possible to recoup their investments.
I don't know what the circumstances are when they purchase the rifles abroad.
Back in the day, when I was involved in such purchases, they were offered in "lots," usually all of the rifles from a "club" were in one "lot," depending on the size of the club.
The odd time, if the club was large and the quantity of rifles was large, they would be graded by the seller and offered at individual prices. These were often quite expensive.
Many of the rifles at the gun shows are in much better condition, than those offered by Intersurplus. Especially if they've come out of personal collections. I know of a few collectors in my area, with dozens of rifles, most of which have never been fired, other than factory proof testing.
The rifle I bought from Eagleye is in excellent condition, inside and out. He didn't shoot it much before it came to me, and I've put less than 200 rounds through it. It's very light, in a composite stock, chambered for the 8x57, which I load 196 grain Oryx bullets into, at 2600fps. At today's screaming velocities, with the big magnums, that isn't fast, but it's a mauler on everything I've shot it at.
I notice the rifles chambered for common North American cartridges, such as 308, 30-06, 300 Win Mag, etc, sell quickly, as long as condition is acceptable.
Intersurplus is very careful to grade the rifles they offer lower than they mostly are.
Many of the rifles are "club" rifles and have seen a lot of use.
I bought a lot of them from Tradex and a few from Intersurplus. I couldn't purchase a decent receiver for the prices these rifles were selling for.
I've built a lot of custom rifles from them. They often come with adjustable triggers, or double set triggers, which make the Savage Accutrigger look bad. The Accutrigger is now being used, under license, by other manufacturers. I never did like it and still don't. But if the shooter doesn't know any better, they're OK.
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Ahh I didn't know the part about the shooting clubs. The ones I have got from intersurplus look to of been barely shot. What are the details on that load?. Im interested in trying your load on my husquevarna 640 in 8x57.
Likewise, all three I bought from IS have been in excellent condition, though the 30-06 was a bit grimy and the wood has seen some wear. But the bores were pristine, the actions cycle exactly as needed and none have had the cracks behind the tang that can be common in these rifles.
Jonesing for another one.
I really want one in a mannlicker stock or the lightweight carbine version.
I doubt you will achieve the same velocities I get from my 8x57 rifles out of short Mannlicher barrels.
The double set trigger Czech Mauser chambered for 8x57 has a 23.5 inch barrel, as does the Husqvarna.
The Czech is a custom build I did on a military receiver, utilizing a NOS, Oberndorf manufactured milsurp barrel I had purchased in a 100 count lot, which was available 50 years ago. It was the last one I had, saved for just such a build.
I believe the Husqvarna is built on a commercial 98 action purchased by Husqvarna from FN or so it appears. There aren't any stamps on it other than Swede factory stamps. It may have been one of the Swede-produced commercial large ring 98s???? The barrel is a tapered commercial Husky type.
I will give you the load I use, as the 640 is a very strong action, even if it is a pre 98, small ring action.
The Swedes were pretty much set on the best barrel length for velocity/energy and stuck with the k98 barrel length "600mm/23.62in" developed by the militaries in the early 1900s.
My load is 56.0 grains of W760, over CCI 250 primers, under 196 grain Oryx bullets, for 2600+fps.
This is a stout load, which is quite normal for Europe but won't be found in any North American manuals.
If you can't find W760, H380, or H414 are kissing cousins, depending on the lot. Start a few grains lower and work into it, until you find the sweetest accuracy spot.
Most North American shooters have no idea how good 8mm bullets are.
It's either 30cal, 35cal, or 9.3mm. They just leap frog over one of the best bullet diameters going.
There are a lot of good bullets in weights from 100grain to 250grain available, both from North American and European suppliers.
I should mention, supplies of 8mm bullets started to dry up during Covid, and now again with the war in Ukraine.
There are still a lot of good bullets available, if you peruse the internet.
The double set trigger Czech Mauser chambered for 8x57 has a 23.5 inch barrel, as does the Husqvarna.
The Czech is a custom build I did on a military receiver, utilizing a NOS, Oberndorf manufactured milsurp barrel I had purchased in a 100 count lot, which was available 50 years ago. It was the last one I had, saved for just such a build.
I believe the Husqvarna is built on a commercial 98 action purchased by Husqvarna from FN or so it appears. There aren't any stamps on it other than Swede factory stamps. It may have been one of the Swede-produced commercial large ring 98s???? The barrel is a tapered commercial Husky type.
I will give you the load I use, as the 640 is a very strong action, even if it is a pre 98, small ring action.
The Swedes were pretty much set on the best barrel length for velocity/energy and stuck with the k98 barrel length "600mm/23.62in" developed by the militaries in the early 1900s.
My load is 56.0 grains of W760, over CCI 250 primers, under 196 grain Oryx bullets, for 2600+fps.
This is a stout load, which is quite normal for Europe but won't be found in any North American manuals.
If you can't find W760, H380, or H414 are kissing cousins, depending on the lot. Start a few grains lower and work into it, until you find the sweetest accuracy spot.
Most North American shooters have no idea how good 8mm bullets are.
It's either 30cal, 35cal, or 9.3mm. They just leap frog over one of the best bullet diameters going.
There are a lot of good bullets in weights from 100grain to 250grain available, both from North American and European suppliers.
I should mention, supplies of 8mm bullets started to dry up during Covid, and now again with the war in Ukraine.
There are still a lot of good bullets available, if you peruse the internet.
Sadly bullets are a issue I have heard finding good ones can be difficult. Your load also would probably work well in a 8x60 which is a cartridge i might be loading for soon.
I have a 1640 lightweight in 30-06
And I have a 649( if I remember right) full stock mannlicher in 9.3x62
Both are great shooters and a joy to carry! And both were somewhat cheap, not intersurplus cheap but less than $800 if I recall!
I've had a couple of rifles chambered for the 8x60, which will hold quite a bit more powder, but velocities don't seem to increase substantially. If you think finding 8mm bullets will be difficult, wait until you start looking for 8x60mm cases. However, you can make them up from 30-06 cases.
That doesn't mean it isn't a great cartridge, just not as efficient as its parent 8x57.
I also had a rifle chambered for the 8x63 Norwegian special purpose cartridge, because I could purchase ammunition very cheaply at one point.
I bought 10k rounds of the stuff for around $500 delivered. It all came on cloth belts, in cardboard boxes, in large wooden chests.
The Norwegians used it for their M1919 machine guns after WWII, and rechambered several hundred Kar98s for the crews.
The cartridges utilized deep seated 200 grain .323 diameter spire point, boat tail bullets. Recoil was substantial, to say the least, and were not popular with the shooters. They even added muzzle brakes.
The rifles were sold to Israel and rebarreled to the original 8x57.
They were sold for the value of their components. The bullets were so deeply seated, it was impossible to grab them with a collet type bullet puller, which was necessary because of the heavy crimp and sealant applied.
Many folks tried inertia hammers and broke them, others made up methods to hold the bullets and wiggle the case until the necks opened enough to pull the bullets.
I just couldn't be bothered with all the fuss, so rechambered a bubba rifle for the cartridge. There was a very good reason for the muzzle brake being added by the Norwegians.
I thought I might convert several hundred cases to Boxer priming and build a hunting rifle for the cartridge. I didn't do it.
The priming was corrosive, but was still very consistent, so I just shot off a crate, which wore out the rifle's throat very quickly, then sold off the reamer and remaining cartridges.
would be interesting to see what that would do with modern powders and primers.
No, it wouldn't. The recoil generated by the 8x63 Norwegian cartridge is extremely unpleasant.
I did make some cases up from the 9.3x62 case, for reloading with lighter bullets. It was a waste of time and effort.
I did make some cases up from the 9.3x62 case, for reloading with lighter bullets. It was a waste of time and effort.
Remember what they say if your not flinching your not trying hard enough!.
When it comes to shooting and absorbing unnecessary pain, there's a special kind of stupid going on, looking for it.
yea bigger isn't always better and using a bigger cartridge to compensate for lack of skill isn't gonna get ya far either.
Mind you i do like the medium bores and big bores.
