Stevens or 6.5 Swede? Decision made UPDATE

I've been shooting a Swedish M-38 for almost 20 years now and my Dad's been shooting one for over 35 years. Other than being a tad bit heavy we have NO complaints. I use it with 100's for 'Yotes and 140's for Whitetails. The accuracy is awesome to say the least, with any of those weight bullets out of our guns. I have also used 120's. I haven't seen any stability problems with any of those bullet weights at all, out to 300 yards, which is about as far as I have ever shot it at targets. ULTRA reliable and tough rifle. As for the Stevens , they're definitely lighter! I have only handled them at the gunshops and never fired one. I doubt the ruggedness and quality are comparable though. The Swedes make fine firearms! I'm sure either choice will do fine but if you want something that you can "abuse" in wet, freezing weather and still have function perfectly, I'd take the Swede hands down.
Al
 
762shooter said:
6.5 x 55 is a great caliber but one you have to hand load for to get anywhere near its potential.

The cheap guns on the Trade ex sight are just that, cheap guns. They often do have cracked stocks, bubba modified military stocks, missing sights, holes drilled all over the actions, brass tacks driven in the stocks, many not set up for scopes, etc. They do carry some very good rifles but they are not cheap.

The Swedish Mausers are far from perfect. They have a very long striker fall and therefor a long lock time combined with a heavy military trigger. They are #### on close which most shooters find more awkward than #### on open.

All of these deficiencies can be overcome but at a price. The Stevens 200 is not perfect either (really poor stock) but you pay your $350 and walk away with an accurate, ready to shoot rifle, no fuss, no muss.

I'm not intending to slag either rifle and I do own both, I just feel the most valid answer to the question asked is "go with the Stevens".
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X2. The Swede is considerably more heavy and most likely more accurate however the Stevens will give you 1.5 groups.
 
Drilled lots of deer and moose with my 6.5x55 using the 156-160 gr bullet and either 42gr of N-204 or IMR 4350 and they always exit so far no recovered bullets.Nothing I wouldn't face in Canada with one..................Harold FWT 70,T-3 + Husky 38
 
hansol said:
Already have gone the Enfield route. As I said earlier, I'm looking for more of a varmint rifle, so am looking for something a little more "flat-shooting" than the Lee Enfield. CZ_Brno hit the nail on the head.

I've never had a preference for long-action vs. short-action, so a .260 could be a possibility as well (A 264 win mag would be a dream). Unfortunately Santa didn't grace me with a lot of funds for a rifle this year, so I have to be a little more picky than I want to be.

Cheap, reliable, and shoots well. That's all I'm hoping to get out of this next purchase. Hopefully those 3 traits aren't mutually exclusive...
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OK, I misunderstood!

Another vote for the swede. I had one for years!
 
Stevens

I'd go Stevens 200 in 25/06 myself. Nothing scientific, own 2 Stevens - 243 & 223. Had the 243 for 2 years now. It'll shoot under 1.5 with factory loads and the 'crappy' trigger. Alternated with it and a savage package 243 as a 'truck' gun last year, until the Savage was sold - shot coyotes, deer, foxes, etc.. No complaints. One or the other would ride on the floor of my old suburban, under the front seat from about Nov. 1 on. No problems in terms of function, durability based ONLY on this.

223 is more accurate, can't comment on other because haven't had it long.

The 25/06 has a 22 in. barrel , which most see as a detriment. Personally it would be my choice. Have a Husquvarna 25/06 that I love. The Stevens would be the perfect kick around.

Nothing bad to say on your other choice , just that the Stevens would be my choice.
 
My 6.5X55 swede has accounted for over 30 blacktails and a couple of black bears.Regular Century 139 gr factory ammunition I bought years ago for $10 a box on a close out.Nothing went far-maybe 20-30 yards at the most.This year I wanted something bigger, so I went to Anthony and ended up with three 9,3x57's[no idea why,but they seem ''catching'']-which also got me started handloading 286 gr Privipartizans.My vote is for the Husky's-in any caliber
 
I'd go 6.5x55 swede. Time proven design, rugged and reliable, and as you are a reloader, you can get way more out of the 6.5x55 than factory ammo will give you. And don't put too much stock in the persistant rumor that 6.5x55's only shoot well with bigger bullets - mine (more than one) shoot both 95gr vmax's and 140gr SST's very well. And with 95gr Vmax's easily getting over 3200 fps, you're zipping along pretty well similar to the 25-06 with similar light bullet weights.
 
If you're thinking sheep, remember, you carry it alot more than you shoot it. The Stevens is lighter. Pharoah also made a comment about the trigger in the stevens. Sure it sucks (if you dont know what an allen key is), but imo, it is much better than the war trigger you will get on any cheap swede. I have one of each, i can speak to this.

It seems alot of the guys replying are hung up on the chambering, not the gun, if you were thinking 270, you might be getting a different response.
 
I'd go with the new Marlin bolt in .270. Now you have a better looking and better finished rifle than the Stevens that will do everything the .25-06 does in a more commonly available round. I love the Swede(I've owned a M38 in original military configuration and it is a great shooter for sure), but since you can't evaluate these used rifles in person, you may end up with something with a little "too much character".
 
personally i would go with the mauser. i bought my wife one of those trade ex 6.5x55's and it is a VERY NICE rifle, minty bore, nice wood stock with schnable fore end. i would say nicer than any of the typical off the shelf rifles being made today at 1/3 - 1/2 the price (but comparable in price to the stevens).

oh yeah, i have bought a few guns from trade ex in the last few years, and i would grade each of them a grade higher than trade ex did.
 
That little Stevens is light, and better yet cheap. Mine shoots great, a 7mm-08, though I did stick a Rifle Basix trigger in it. I have an M96 as well, a 6.5, and no matter what I choose to spend on it for after-market upgrades, it's still a surplus rifle of unknown strength, a glorified camp gun, so unlike say a new Tikka 6.5 I simply will not load it very heavy. It doesn't have that other lug, unlike the M98, the one that will stop the bolt from coming straight back if overloaded. The Stevens in .25-06 will as noted probably suffer from the shorter barrel, as they really deserve a 24" minimum to shine, but for $300 it's a good little rifle. They really do perform in a short action like a .243 or 7-08 and for a "truck gun" I always grab it over the Swede. It's shorter, lighter, and I don't mind banging it around. Another coat of Krylon paint fixes just about anything I do to it. If I really wanted to hunt with a 6.5 it'd be a new Tikka, loaded well, but for a packing around tool especially if you're thinking coyotes, wolves, even deer, the 200 in .243 would be the ticket. But that's just me.
 
I have both a sportized M38 and two Savage 110 variants. I would have to say based on the experience I've had with these rifles that the Savage's are alot more accurate and definetly lighter. On the other hand my Swede is a pleasure to shoot, and carry and I prefer the feel of the gun to my Savages. The Swede also has a nice aftermarket walnut stock, timney trigger, and a 22" chopped military barrel. The #### on close is a feature I really like, and the quality of the gun and 70 year old bluing is top notch.

I don't think you can go wrong with either choice but at the end of the day the two rifles really aren't comparible in my mind.

Just do what I did and buy both.
 
OldSavage said:
I have both a sportized M38 and two Savage 110 variants. I would have to say based on the experience I've had with these rifles that the Savage's are alot more accurate and definetly lighter. On the other hand my Swede is a pleasure to shoot, and carry and I prefer the feel of the gun to my Savages. The Swede also has a nice aftermarket walnut stock, timney trigger, and a 22" chopped military barrel. The #### on close is a feature I really like, and the quality of the gun and 70 year old bluing is top notch.

I don't think you can go wrong with either choice but at the end of the day the two rifles really aren't comparible in my mind.

Just do what I did and buy both.
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Not to be argumentative, but if you buy a $250 rifle from Tradex, add another $50 for shipping and GST, you then added a $100 + stock, a $100 trigger and probably $80 of drilling and tapping for scope bases so now you are comparing a $600 outlay to a $350 outlay.
 
Well guys, it's been decided, although not by me:

Yesterday I got an envelope from "Santa" that had a picture of a Stevens and a blank cheque. Apparently my folks tried to get me one for Christmas, but of course with the PAL and all that... But after a trip to Wholesale and the Home Depot, I now have a new toy!

It's a 25-06, and I went with the long-action because I can always re-barrel to a 6.5x55. It has a few very simple modifications, including bedding and stiffening the stock, as well as 402E extended bases, due to the way I like my scopes mounted, and the spiffy paint job ;)

A couple things for the next guy that undertakes this: stiffening the stock with fiberglass works well, but adds a LOT of weight. I would recommend using fiberglass in the forestock, but using expandable foam in the butt. Thanks to the fiberglass, my "light/flimsy" stock now is incredibly rigid and the rifle weighs close to 10lbs...

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Anyways let me know what you think. I will be taking it to the range tomorrow, and will let you know how she shoots. Cheers -Cameron
 
$600 into a swede?you gotta be kidding....mine is a bubba'd military stock, drilled and tapped for my 4x leopold-and over the years accounted for a lot of deer with $ 10 a box century factory ammo..If it ain't broke don't fix it...
 
My 2 cents worth....................
I have owned many rifles with wood stocks, and many with composite stocks. I have never owned a wood stock that would maintain it's point of impact from year to year; even when properly bedded, but a properly bedded composite stock always does. I've seen lot's of people try to say that injection molded stocks don't hold epoxy, but that only because they don't understand that it needs to be done differently than other stocks. Take a drill, and drill small holes at 45 degree angles on the surface that you wish to apply the bedding material to on the Stevens rifle, and it will never let you down on any mountain.
Too bad that you can't get a fiberglass stock for a Husky though, eh?
Mike
 
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