Swedish M96: Can it handle any 30-06 bullets?

[huntingfish]

Hi,
First post here, so please bare with me I'm thinking of purchasing a Swedish M96 Sportster in 30-06 from TradeEx and I wanted to know if it was safe to fire any kinds of bullets with it, from 55gr accelerators (although I hear they are terrible accurary wise) to 180gr (is there bigger?). I'm buying a 30-06 in hopes of being able to hunt pretty much anything I feel like, such as coyotes, deer, moose and bears. I read that they had a max operating 46 000psi (? I think I read that when they compared the M96's to the M98's)...I'm wondering if any rounds might go above that limit. I'm talking about factory ammo here, I have no desire to reload. I think this might just be an issue when handloading and making "hot" bullets, but I just want to make sure.

Thanks!

Fish

 

[sunray]

"...have no desire to reload..." You'll get over that fairly quickly. Factory ammo is expensive. Think in terms of about $20 to $30 per 20 for .30-06.
"...is there bigger?..." Yep. Remington loads a 220, but you don't need 'em. A 165 will kill any game you care to hunt with less felt recoil.
"...55gr Accelerators..." Right again. Extremely poor accuracy.
Note that Tradex says there's a crack in the stock(seems like all the M96 Sporters they have are cracked). The action won't have any issues though.

 

[Pathfinder]

I owned one of those 96 sporters, never shot any factory ammo out of it but it was fine with regular 150 gr. handloads. I would not load them too hot but you should be fine with factory fodder, never heard of one blowing up. Just Ask Anthony at tradeex.

As for 96's P.O Ackley rebarreled and tested them with 22-250 AI at much more pressure than a 30-06 will run, he didnt' recommend that conversion but it just goes to show that although they are not as desireble as 98's (mostly because the 98 manages escaped gas better) for conversions they are still fairly sturdy. If you search in the Gunsmithing forum there is a good thread called M-96 Action strenght or something like that.

Lots of good info in there to steer you in the right direction.

 

[bearhunter]

I've owned M96 Mauser's in 8x57, 30-06, 308Win, 6mm Remington and of course 6.5x55. I used both handloads and factory ammo in all of them. None of them suffered any set back or stretching. I did see one m96 have a catastrophic failure. The top of the receiver blew off but the chamber and bolt were unharmed. Upon close inspection, there was an obvious inclusion in the receiver metal. It was a milsurp rifle, chambered in 6.5x55 with factory loads.

The only m96 rifles I still have are the 6.5x55s and the 6mm Remington. The 6mm Rem has at least 900 rounds through it at pressures that would equal 50,000psi as per the Lyman reloader manual. I stopped there because that's where it became very accurate.

Factory Norma loads are quite hot. They are used extensively in the old M96 Mausers in Scandinavia. I haven't heard of many complaints from them.

This is for informational purposes only, I have no idea of the condition of your receiver and won't say yay or nay as to a conversion nor do I have any idea of the condition of the Tradex rifles, at the very least though I feel they would be safe with factory loads.

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

Hi,
First post here, so please bare with me I'm thinking of purchasing a Swedish M96 Sportster in 30-06 from TradeEx and I wanted to know if it was safe to fire any kinds of bullets
....
I'm wondering if any rounds might go above that limit. I'm talking about factory ammo here, I have no desire to reload. I think this might just be an issue when handloading and making "hot" bullets, but I just want to make sure.

Thanks!

Fish

I think you answered your own question. The rifles Tradex is selling look like second and third rifles from Scandinavia. These would have been used and carried for many years to hunt moose (they are called elk there). Unless there is some especially outragious reason why the hunter retired that rifle, I see no problem shooting almost any factory ammunition in that rifle.

That said, the lawyers have forced new rifles and new ammunition to pretty lame pressures, and safe enough to withstand any lawsuits.

 

[Calum]

I think you answered your own question. The rifles Tradex is selling look like second and third rifles from Scandinavia. These would have been used and carried for many years to hunt moose (they are called elk there).

More likely shooting club rifles.

 

[huntingfish]

"...have no desire to reload..." You'll get over that fairly quickly. Factory ammo is expensive. Think in terms of about $20 to $30 per 20 for .30-06.

Hmm, no. I don't quite mind spending a bit more but having more free time.

"...is there bigger?..." Yep. Remington loads a 220, but you don't need 'em. A 165 will kill any game you care to hunt with less felt recoil.

I was planning on using 180, but I might try out a couple of 165 as well to see which one my rifle likes best.

"...55gr Accelerators..." Right again. Extremely poor accuracy.
Note that Tradex says there's a crack in the stock(seems like all the M96 Sporters they have are cracked). The action won't have any issues though.

No crack in the stock, it's been replaced by a new one. It's not original, but I don't care about that, I want something useful.

Fish