What kind of Mauser do I have? Pics on p.1 Dialup Beware!!

thebuckhunter

thebuckhunter

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First off, I will post pics tomorrow night. I traded a gun for this thing. It was traded for late last year and due to family and work commitments, I have just got around to really looking this gun over and doing research. Returning it is NOT an option, neither is posting bad feedback (I'll just avoid buying from the particular member and leave it at that).

It is a 6.5x55 mauser made in 1941 at the Huskvarna plant. The gun came registered as an 1896 but some of my research indicates that it is an M38. :confused: This rifle has been bubba'd SEVERELY! :eek:

The barrel was cut down to 18.5" with some kind of "counterweight" installed at the muzzle with a set screw. The rear sight looks like it was Dremmeled off, the stock is not the original one (#'s don't match), was half assed bedded with epoxy, part of a credit card and some thin plastic stuff! :eek: and hacked to a Schnabel forend. It has a 2 position safety, the bolt was polished with a Dremmel also (must be a favorite tool of bubba). It was drilled for scope bases. Out of the 2 front screw holes, the rear one is larger than the other. Of the 2 rear screw holes, they were drilled with the wrong spacing (too close together by about 1/16" of an inch). Now this is my first "milsurp" and I want to fix this one up to as close to original as possible with the exception of having a scope rather than open sights. ANY help would be greatly appreciated. If anyone out there knows of a reputable 'smith that could help me out to properly fix this gun, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks for letting me vent as well. I'll definitely look over my stuff more carefully next time.:redface:

-Jason

EDIT: Pics!:eek: :eek:
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-J
 
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Absolutely.....Hitzy is spot on.
Nice M96s and M38s can be had pretty easily, even here in Oz, and I've seen some of the lovely items on the Tradex site.
Very jealous there. :(
Don't worry about restoration.
Turn it into a handy little woods carbine.
You can fill those holes in the receiver with screws, cut the heads off, file them flush and re-drill them if needs be.
I do want to see some pics of this baby.
Really shocking bubba's are always fascinating to look at......sort of like a train wreck or a bearded lady. :D
BTW, does it actually shoot ok?
 
Buy a nice Swede and set it aside for 10 years. Nice examples are still available easily, but in 10 years or so, they will be like the brazilians and argentines. Many of the best ones will have been turned into deer rifles or abused, etc. and the nice ones will skyrocket in value. I remember $149 two-fer deals from Century on unissued 1908 brazilians with all the kit. Now just one unissued 1908 with accessories is a $600+ rifle.

And yes, I have my nice example Swede stashed away.
 
kombi1976 said:
Absolutely.....Hitzy is spot on.
Nice M96s and M38s can be had pretty easily, even here in Oz,
Click to expand...

Good to know as my Aussie brother in law fell in love with my 6.5x55 M38 swede.
Any idea what they are going for in Oz? :)
 
A good original wood one.....maybe $400 to $500, often a fair bit less.
A restocked and scoped one....between $350 and $450.
Whatever the case an excellent buy.
A mate bought a sporterised M96 Carl Gustaf with mounts, rings, 6x40 Tasco and timber sporting stock (not a bubba'd mil stock) for around $400.
It's gorgeous.
IMO, buckhunter, you'd be better making sure the bbl is ok, then take the butchered milstock off it and fit it with either a Boyds stock or a Butler Creek one and make it into a light carbine.
It'll have a bit more muzzle blast but they're so mild on the shoulder you'll hardly notice and if you use slightly faster powders the flame shouldn't be so bad.
With a 2-7x or 3-9x scope it'll make a perfect little woods carbine with the ability to actually reach out a little longer when needed.
You could even sandblast and powdercoat the bbl and action for more hardiness like I did to my bubba'd k98.
 
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Instead of a blast and powdercoat, you could also reblue it, blast and blue, or blast and parkerize. Lots of options out there for sprucing up a cut down sporter.

I'd still recommend picking up an unsportered one to supplement it though - it's a good investment IMHO. Milsurps appreciate faster than my stock portfolio most of the time!
 
Depends on what you want out of the project.

Anything is restorable, but a great deal depends on what you want out of a project.

If you could find all the correct parts needed to repair the riifle, and you did a professional looking job, you would have a very nice original looking parts rifle that would be worth what? Probably not a great deal if put up for sale, not worth much to a collector, after all it is a parts rifle. Sadly, you might find that you might spend three hundred dollars and countless hours to produce a rifle worth a hundred bucks.

But you mention that this is your first milsurp. I can assume also that this will be your first milsurp restoration. My advice is go to for it.

The hobby of restoration doesn't have to be measured in dollars. I measure mine in the number of pleasurable hours I get messing around with stuff. I restore Enfields and now know the mechanics intimately, what parts belong to what models. I can usualy tell you the year and manufacturer of a part simply by looking at the stamps. I have learnt about metal finishes used, how to refinish, how to touch up, how to polish, how to patina parts to make them look old, how to repair wood, how to use boiled linseed oil, how to replace barrels, how to lap a bore, how to adjust headspace and firing pins, how to correct feeding problems, sighting problems, and I have learnt a great deal of military history and about the people who used these arms. Plus i have met and got to know a wonderful group of people from all over the world with similar interests to my own.

So out of pocket by a couple of hundred bucks is a cheap hobby in my books, my buddy spends more than that on green fees per month!

So economics say to junk the rifle and sell it off as parts. The restoration bug says it can be done, and will be an interesting project. Also if you screw up practicing your techniques and make a mess of things, so what?

Just how much work will be involved? Lots!

Take a look at my latest project, a Lee Enfield Carbine Mk.I. I have wanted one for a long time for my collection but could never afford to buy a complete and original one. This project will probably cost me a small fortune to find the correct parts and will no doubt take years to complete. But at least my budget can handle one piece at a time.


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This is the project so far, as you can see, I have a ways to go yet.
 
Englishman, I applaud your craftsmanship, but the reality is that if you aren't good with your hands as you must be then things get expensive.......FAST. :(
I'm with Claven2.
Powdercoating was just the easiest option for me as there are powdercoaters everywhere and it only cost $20 to get it blasted and $55 to get the thing coated.
If you can get parkerising and not spend a small fortune then go for it.
And do buy a complete original M96 or M38 if you can as well.
Hell, buy an original AND restore your bubba like Englishman recommended too. ;)
 
Thanks for the tips and info guys. They gave me something to think about before I think of restoring this gun. Much appreciated. I'm rather good with my hands and definitely mechanically inclined. I was not made aware of all of the "intricasies" of this particular bubba. I didn't know how to ask the questions. I definitely have a more sound understanding of what to ask about a bubba'd gun. I'm even more fascinated with the 6.5x55 cartridge. Amazing little thing.
I might have something in the works, (buying another gun!) :) Just another excuse to get another gun safe and new toy.:rolleyes: I'm glad the wife doesn't get bent out of shape when I buy my toys. Thanks again , I'll be posting pics tomorrow when I have a bit more time. I'm warning you guys beforehand, she's ugly!

-Jason
 
C&L is right......a chisel job from way back!!
But if the mount fits it and is straight, well, why complain.
Incidentally DOES the mount fit?
I maintain my original view.
It'd be a very cool little carbine.
Drop a 1.5-6x scope on it and you'd find it very useful.
That counterweight on the bbl is very weird though.
What's it like without it on?
 
thebuckhunter said:
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ROTFLMAO, I love barrel tuners, it reminds me alot of one done by one of the mods here once :evil:

The bedding job is an oldschool one, the rifle screams 1980s to me. That said, its a great basis for a little sporter, and I would hold onto it. The safety has already been swapped out, and if the goof who did it didn't polish the hell out of the lugs then she has promise. In honesty its a money pit, you will never get your money back, but if you have the inclination you could send it to someone like Dave Jennings out in BC, or any good competent smith, have them turn the barrel into a taper, dump the tuner, crown it, fill the hole in the barrel under the rear site properly, and redrill the holes for the bases to an 8-40, and go to a proper set of bases or one piece mount.
Then plop it in a nice after market stock. The smithing work could likely be done for around 200 including a nice bluing if you shop around. A wood stock for 100, and your off to the races with a sharp little sporter.
 
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