Thinking about Swedes

I would start my Swede collection with a M96. They are more common than the other variants and more likely to pop up at a good price on Gunnutz.

My 96's are generally the most accurate mausers I own, and among the most beautiful (next to the Argentine and Brazilians IMO).

When you buy one, insist that it be all matching, has an excellent shiny bore, and has the original finish on metal and wood. Be prepared to handload as a reliable source of milsurp is long gone.
 
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I was wrong, my friend who actually sold quite a few of the rifles pictured in the book to the author of Crown Jewels confirmed my mistake.

"
SAMCO is quite simply wrong. . . the straight-bolt rifles are 96/38's and the bent bolt are the only true Model 38's. There was no official "infantry" or "cavalry" distinction between the two.
"
 
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Even for an Enfield type of guy , the M96 is a gem of a rifle .
SW1.jpg
 
JP said:
Samco is selling Husqvarna straight bolt M38 rifles and I have one in stock at the shop right now, books and website can be wrong or not up-to-date sometimes.

http://www.samcoglobal.com/rifles.html#m96
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SAMCO is full of....well, you know the stuff. The previous gentleman had it right - a straight bolt 38, is a 96/38.

Oh, and while I'm at it, there were 38's built into at least 1944 (because I had one, and parted with it, like an idiot), and I've heard rumours of some dated 1945.

Oh, to be able to roll back the calendar 30 years, and buy a truck load of unfired 96's and 38's for $75 a pop.....
 
I am a little curious about these swedish rifles, as I do have one, but don't much about them. A few years ago, well back in the late 80's, I bought one of these thinking of making it into a sporting rifle. I didn't have much money, and it was cheap because the guy who had it was a small gunsmith/dealer who brought a few of them in to cut down, but said he couldn't sell because ammo was hard to get. At the time Imperial had quit making ammo for them, and other ammo had to be brought in from Europe, and was expensive. Anyways, I found a few boxes of Imperial 160 gr (still have most of it) that was somehow overlooked at a K-mart, so I gave him $50 for the Swedish and brought it home. After getting it home and taking it apart, the job of cutting it down looked too much for me, so I sanded off the dirt and nicks on the wood, refinished it with Birchwood Casey's walnut stain and tru-oil, and it has basically sat unused since. Well, it might have 20 or 30 shots through it. Okay, so I suppose it is bubba'd (whatever that is) beyond much of any value now. All the serial numbers match on all the wood and all metal parts, except there seems to be a different number on the rear site. Here is a link to a pic of it. Sorry, I don't know how to paste the picture.

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m310/pastway/?action=view&current=swedish6.jpg

Anyways, I keep hearing about the great accuracy, but how can you tell that a gun is accurate when all you have are these miserable open sights? So my question is I guess, how do you guys shoot these things with those sights and get good groups? (Okay, my eyes sure aren't what they used to be. )
 
Tumbleweed said:
Oh, and while I'm at it, there were 38's built into at least 1944 (because I had one, and parted with it, like an idiot), and I've heard rumours of some dated 1945.
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My 38 is a 1942, but I believe a member on this board got one a while back found a 44. :)
 
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Pastway , the long (and hard) learned lesson is to make the shot as good as you can. If you don't know how, I'm sure a lot of members here can help you. There are quite a few tricks to shot better with iron sights.

Any questions, please post them here, before you go for a scope. :runaway:
 
eltorro said:
Pastway , the long (and hard) learned lesson is to make the shot as good as you can. If you don't know how, I'm sure a lot of members here can help you. There are quite a few tricks to shot better with iron sights.

Any questions, please post them here, before you go for a scope. :runaway:
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Actually, one thing I don't see discussed here much is tips for shooting better with iron sights.

I'm still holding off on any further "bubba" jobs, such as putting on a scope. At this point in my life, I probably don't need to take that route, as I have too many rifles now with scopes, and don't really need one on this Swedish M96.

What I was actually thinking of trying as an experiment, and I know some of you will laugh, but was a tang peep-type of sight, homemade variety, temporarily fastened with duct tape or something, just to try it to see if I could get a few better groups. I'd probably just make one up from something simple for an experiment. Obviously I'd have to raise the front one a bit as well. Okay, laugh, but for me it couldn't be any worse than the military sights.
 
the swedish sights are fine. They are not as good for battle as other, but for taget shooting in good light conditions, they are good enough.

We're talking about Camp Perry here, where the winners are year after year : M96 followed by K31.

Shooting tips:

Shooting bull target : make sure the bull is a bull, not a dot.
Respect natural point of aim and stable shooting positions.
<< PM me for details on the video, as hotlinking isn't right>>

get a good rest for your rifle.
don't drink coffee that morning.....:runaway:
sight picture.... and on the bull... shoot all : front sight touching the circle, with a line under, and flat tire. Some shoot center of mass, but is arder to do for a beginner.

You can also try squares rather than bull target. There are plenty o the web to download.

Ammo. The ammo Swedes issued is still some of the best. It runs for 25-30$ per box, but then again, you'll know what you have. Prvi Partizan is not bad, but not outstanding either.
 
Well, I read the suggested things in the last two posts, and decided to try the Swedish M96 out at the range today. I used a BIG bulls eye, at 100 yards, no coffee :) , steadied down on the shooting bench, front sight in focus, bulls eye fully at 6 o'clock. I fired one to neutralize the barrel, as the gun had been cleaned and an oily patch down it since the last time I fired it. Then I fired a 3 shot group of factory Winchesters I've had around for a long time. When I walked down to the target, I was pretty surprised. A 1-inch sticker covered all three shots. Thinking I was maybe lucky, I went back and fired 3 factory Federals. I had a group slightly under 1 1/2 inches. Then I tried some of the old Imperial 160 grs, still under a 2 inch group. I think I had more fun with it today than all the years since I've owned it, which is since the late 80's.

What can I say? I wouldn't have believed the difference if I hadn't tried it. And I thought I was too old to learn anything :D The way I sighted before, with the post covering the bullseye, and too small a bull, I couldn't hit a water pail at 100 yards. So, thanks for the tips. I spent a good part of the afternoon resighting some of my other iron-sight guns in the 6 o'clock position as well. Now I guess I'll be digging out those 6.5x55 Lee dies I bought new and never opened yet.

I do have a question though. Does anyone know where I can get a taller front sight? These are good groups for me, but it is hitting a bit too high at 100 yards.
 
Good job shooting. Next time, bring your camera nad post some picture so we can all enjoy them.
I'm glad we could help.

As for the higher fron sights....
I was supposed to get some, but to my dissapointment (and another CGN-er) I didn't manage to, just yet. My friend moved away and this makes getting them a lot harder.

I'll get on it, I hope. I'll PM you when I get some, as I already made some promisses I can't keep.... :redface:
 
Very Cool!
Sounds like a fun day. :)

pastway said:
I do have a question though. Does anyone know where I can get a taller front sight? These are good groups for me, but it is hitting a bit too high at 100 yards.
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One source below...Numrich might be another.
Original Swedish Front Sight Blades, dimensions as shown below . Easy to install -$7.95 each
0. , -0.5 ,+0.5, +0.75 , -1, +1, -1.25, +2,
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ww w.samcoglobal.com/access.html

Also keep in mind as you reload you will be changing the point of impact yet more...you may luck out and get bang on, and not need to change the front sight. :D

Most people I know with these tend to simply learn were the ammo they are using is going to hit, and plan/practice accordingly.

Now if anyone here has a modern reloading recipe that emulates Swedish military ammo that is closest to what these sights are set at please chime in. :)
 
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