Another 6.5x55 swede question

[AOK]

Another 6.5x55 swede question. Hopefully I'm not annoying the experts, but is there any particular model or year of manufacture of 6.5x55 swede rifle that would be best for shooting over the others? Anything I should watch out for? Again thanks for any help.

[P. Greaney]

The Swede Mauser model of 1996, was manufactured for almost fifty years the materials and quality were very consistent throughout the time they were made. Three manufacturers made them, Carl Gustafs, Mauser Oberndorf, and Husqvarna.
One thing to keep in mind about the stock disks that indicate bore condition, They refer to the condition that the bore was in when the rifle was last in an armory for service. Not the condition it was in when it was surplused.
The Gunboards forums are a good place to start to acquire information, here are a couple of links to get started doing your research.
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?1008-Links-of-Interest-Swedish-military-firearms
http://dutchman.rebooty.com/
http://www.milsurps.com/ Another good web site for information of military surplus firearms
And don't forget Parallax Bill's site: http://milsurpshooter.net/
It is not unusual to find well known authors posting at the above sites and they will often respond to questions on the boards.
I have several Swede Mausers and am very pleased with them. They are very accurate. I trust you will also be pleased with your acquisition when you finally get one.

[AOK]

Thank you.

[gulliver62]

Agree with above. I have several M96 and a M96/38 as well as an M38. I think the M96 is a tad more accurate but that could be just in my head. The shorter rifles (96/38 and 38) are a little easier to deal with in standing and sitting rapid. So you need to decide which version you want.
They are all fine rifles, easy to reload for also.

[jon_norstog]

AOK,

I've had a number of those rifles and never had a bad one. They will outshoot anything you can buy from RemWin, out of the box. I like the Carl Gustav, which is the most common. Look around. Some of them had walnut stocks. I have a Swede French walnut stock on a custom rifle. It is burgundy with black stripes and looks like a million bucks.

You will have a blast. You can shot the 6.5 all day with no discomfort, and any random off-the rack pick will shoot into a MOA or less, if youcan hold that close.

jn

[Art]

The Swede Mauser model of 1996, was manufactured for almost fifty years the materials and quality were very consistent throughout the time they were made.

This is an important point, not only for Swedish Mausers but other milsurps as well. The highest quality rifles are going to be those from countries like Sweden or Switzerland who never, ever used them in combat. There was never a need to cut corners to step up production.

Next best are firearms manufactured by winners. These rifles, while they may have cut some corners as in the case of rifles such as WW I Brit No. 1 Mk. IIIs or U.S. M1903A3s they are going to be sound and probably arsenal refurbished after the war, not coming straight off a lot of abuse on the battlefield.

Of course rifles of the losers, Nazi rifles, Imperial Japanese, or Italian WWII rifles for example will tend to be (though there are exceptions) the worst, they will have had the most extreme late war short cuts which will sometimes extend to quality control compromises, and the early war high quality ones will have been "rode hard and put up wet."

[Stephan]

1904 Carl Gustaf...good to go