Swede Stiga
- Thread starter Honk...Honk...Boom
- Start date
From what I know the Stiga is built off a model 96 action (or a copy of one). It suprises me to see all these Swedish rifles chambered in the bigger cartriges built on a small ring Mauser action.
But hey, looks like they've been doing it for years and I've never heard of one blowing up. I don't know, sometimes I wonder if a lot of the stuff we "know" about firearms is based off a story told by a guy, who's knew a guy, who knew a guy, that was told once by his cousin, that he saw a M96 actioned sporter blow up after it was re-chambered in 30-06.
But hey, looks like they've been doing it for years and I've never heard of one blowing up. I don't know, sometimes I wonder if a lot of the stuff we "know" about firearms is based off a story told by a guy, who's knew a guy, who knew a guy, that was told once by his cousin, that he saw a M96 actioned sporter blow up after it was re-chambered in 30-06.
I have a Stiga also, they seen to have made several grades of rifles. I have seen Stiga's, Huskvarna's and Falon swedish sporters. I think the top model of Stiga's are the nicest of the Swedish 96's, and I have 2 Huskys and one Stiga.
Here is my Stiga, it is the top rifle. It is a .270. Notice how much slimmer the action is compared to the rifle below it. The rifle below is built on a Czeck small ring 98.
Here is my Stiga, it is the top rifle. It is a .270. Notice how much slimmer the action is compared to the rifle below it. The rifle below is built on a Czeck small ring 98.
I researched these rifles back when I first discovered the availability of used Swedish sporting rifles in Canada.
Stiga is a company in Sweden that makes sporting goods equipment, though it no longer produces firearms. Their rifles were basically made off of surplus M96 actions mated to a newly manufactured barrel and stock. Consequently the bulk of the people at the gunboards.com forum on Swedish commercial and sporting firearms rate them as a less desirable buy than the commercial Husqvarnas that used actions that were either manufactured for sporting use or military actions taken directly off of the production line to make a sporting firearm. For most hunters looking for a nice used bolt action however, this is probably not too big of a deal. So far I've seen Stigas produced in 8mm, 30.06 and 9.3x62.
Since the bolt on an unmodified M96 will not clear a scope, often the Swedes attached a side mount, utilized see-through mounts that allowed use of the iron sights while keeping the scope high enough for the bolt to clear, and in many cases Swedish hunters used Weaver bases to attach an Aimpoint sight that did not extend behind the reciever. Alternately, many had the bolts modified to allow it to clear a scope, and the rifles thus modified would be the most desirable rifles for the contemporary shooter. Occasionally you'll find one drilled and tapped for a diopter sight, though the site usually will not be found on the rifle. If you cannot get it with the complete side mount, I'd suggest avoiding an action with the holes drilled in the side of the action to accept the side mount.
As long as you are aware of the different scope mounting options and what's been done to a particular rifle, that will help to determine whether or not it is suited to your needs without further modification. While I passed up some Stigas in favour of the commercially produced Husqvarnas loaded to calibres like 9.3x57, that does not mean that these rifles aren't interesting in their own right.
One final observation that I've made is that while most of the Husqvarnas have suffered from hairline cracks in the tang area that require both repair and the glass bedding of the stocks to prevent further cracking, not too many of the Stigas seem to suffer from that particular weakness associated with Husqvarna rifles. That might be a factor to someone seeking a rifle that they may want to purchase and shoot without having to do any further work to make it servicable.
I hope that these observations help you in your search.
Regards,
Frank
Stiga is a company in Sweden that makes sporting goods equipment, though it no longer produces firearms. Their rifles were basically made off of surplus M96 actions mated to a newly manufactured barrel and stock. Consequently the bulk of the people at the gunboards.com forum on Swedish commercial and sporting firearms rate them as a less desirable buy than the commercial Husqvarnas that used actions that were either manufactured for sporting use or military actions taken directly off of the production line to make a sporting firearm. For most hunters looking for a nice used bolt action however, this is probably not too big of a deal. So far I've seen Stigas produced in 8mm, 30.06 and 9.3x62.
Since the bolt on an unmodified M96 will not clear a scope, often the Swedes attached a side mount, utilized see-through mounts that allowed use of the iron sights while keeping the scope high enough for the bolt to clear, and in many cases Swedish hunters used Weaver bases to attach an Aimpoint sight that did not extend behind the reciever. Alternately, many had the bolts modified to allow it to clear a scope, and the rifles thus modified would be the most desirable rifles for the contemporary shooter. Occasionally you'll find one drilled and tapped for a diopter sight, though the site usually will not be found on the rifle. If you cannot get it with the complete side mount, I'd suggest avoiding an action with the holes drilled in the side of the action to accept the side mount.
As long as you are aware of the different scope mounting options and what's been done to a particular rifle, that will help to determine whether or not it is suited to your needs without further modification. While I passed up some Stigas in favour of the commercially produced Husqvarnas loaded to calibres like 9.3x57, that does not mean that these rifles aren't interesting in their own right.
One final observation that I've made is that while most of the Husqvarnas have suffered from hairline cracks in the tang area that require both repair and the glass bedding of the stocks to prevent further cracking, not too many of the Stigas seem to suffer from that particular weakness associated with Husqvarna rifles. That might be a factor to someone seeking a rifle that they may want to purchase and shoot without having to do any further work to make it servicable.
I hope that these observations help you in your search.
Regards,
Frank
gunasauras
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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I just picked one up that was un-drilled. The bolt was packed so full of packing grease, it was stiff! I'm planning on mounting a Williams FP peep sight on it......nice rifle in 30-06, pristine bore.....should be a decent shooter....
