View Full Version : Picked Up the 1896 Swedish Mauser.....
Went back to the gun shop and got the 1896 Swede. It was made at CARL GUSTAFS STADS GEVARSFAKTORI 1923. The stock has one blemish where a band has scrapped the wood. The receiver and bolt are 100%. The barrel has some wear and light scratches from the forward barrel band. Bore is bright and shiney, great lands and grooves. All serial numbers except the cleaning match. The cleaning rod S/N is only 24 numbers off the serial number. Is there any info on the brass stock disc that anyone can impart to me? Got it for $300 with 2 boxes of commercial ammo. Just found a boxed SA on the chamber area.
I wouldn't put too much stock in what information the brass disk provides. As I understand it, it was stamped by the last armorer who inspected the rifle and shows the extent of barrel wear and point of impact of standard Swede military bullet at a given range. How much the rifle has been shot since the last inspection is anyone's guess. Google the subject and an explanation of the numbers is easily found. I'm no cynic, but have seen UNSTAMPED replacement brass disks for sale and give them little credence. The fact your parts are all matching is a bonus! I love my easy kicking 96 Swedes and hand load for them. Much can be accomplished with that .264 bullet. Best of luck with yours. AND.....we are looking forward to a few photos.
I wouldn't put too much stock in what information the brass disk provides. As I understand it, it was stamped by the last armorer who inspected the rifle and shows the extent of barrel wear and point of impact of standard Swede military bullet at a given range. How much the rifle has been shot since the last inspection is anyone's guess. Google the subject and an explanation of the numbers is easily found. I'm no cynic, but have seen UNSTAMPED replacement brass disks for sale and give them little credence. The fact your parts are all matching is a bonus! I love my easy kicking 96 Swedes and hand load for them. Much can be accomplished with that .264 bullet. Best of luck with yours. AND.....we are looking forward to a few photos.
To be able to decipher what the disc means is a plus to me. The proof will be in the shooting. By the looks of the rifle it has not seen hard use. Since it is all matching and still shows color case harding on the top of the bolt release, I doubt it is a refurb. Will post some pictures tomorrow.
AND.....we are looking forward to a few photos.
Here are 5 pictues. Two more on the next post.
Don't have the reference books handy, but from memory, the disk tells you the barrel condition, amount of wear, and the difference in impact point between the original round nose bullet and the later 140 grain bullet adopted.
Little section with a 1, 2, 3 should have a mark over one of the numbers. Unmarked or stamped over the 1 indicates no appreciable pitting, 2 indicates some present, but bore is usable, and 3 indicates bore is conisdered unusable.
Section with the numbers 0 through 9 indicate bore wear, and you add the stamped number to the original bore diameter to get the bore condition at the time the rifle was examined.
Section at the bottom in the picture is supposed to indicate bullet impact point when the new lighter bullet is used, and I have never seen this section punched.
This is from my not so good memory, but believe it is substantially correct.
I too have seen unmarked disks, or rifles with disk removed. I suspect this was done to conceal not very good condition as indicated on the original disk.
Supposedly this gaging was done when the swedes inventoried their arsenal around beginning of WWII.
The one screw disc is divided into 3 sections, each of which is marked in such a way as to reveal some information about that particular rifle. The smallest "slice" of the brass disc bears the numbers 1, 2, and 3 with a triangular punch mark over one of the numbers. This indicates the condition of the bore. No punch mark is perfect. 1 means a very few dark areas in the corners of the lands and grooves. 2 indicates rust in the corners of the lands and grooves and possible light rust in the grooves. 3 indicates spots of light rust throughout the grooves, but no sharp edges; this is still acceptable. A rifle scoring lower than 3 was rebarreled. My rifle is a 3, but any rifle passed by the Swedish armorers will shoot very well, as the inspectors were quite picky. The bore of my rifle looks good to the naked eye.
The next slice of the little brass disc indicates the elevation aiming error when shooting the standard m/41 Swedish service load, which used a 140 grain boat-tail spitzer bullet at a MV of around 800 m/s. There are three Swedish words in this sector of the disc. "Torped" indicates the 140 grain BT spitzer bullet (there was an earlier 156 grain RN bullet), "Overslag" means over, followed by a space and then "Str." Str is the abbreviation for streck, a unit of angle, and there are 6300 streck to a circle. Streck were used in a manner similar to the way North American shooters use minutes of angle. If there is a number in the blank space between Overslag and Str. it indicates the amount the rifle shoots over in terms of streck. 1 streck equals approximately 1/10 meter at 100 meters. So a 1 in the space on the disc indicates that rifle would shoot 10 cm (or a little less than 4") above the point of aim at 100 meters. The space is blank on my rifle's disc, indicating that it shoots to point of aim.
The largest slice of the disc has an outer and an inner arc of numbers. The outer arc bears numbers "6.51" followed by the numbers 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 (my rifle has a punch mark over the "2"). The inner arc bears the numbers "6.46" followed by 7,8,9,0 (no punch mark over a number in the inner arc on my rifle). It is my understanding that these numbers reveal the nominal bore (6.46mm) and groove (6.51mm) diameters of a new barrel. The punch mark(s) reveals the actual diameter of the particular barrel (and thus, presumably, any wear). Thus, my barrel has a groove diameter of 6.52mm. Apparently the bore diameter of my barrel measured right at 6.46mm.
The one screw disc is divided into 3 sections, each of which is marked in such a way as to reveal some information about that particular rifle. The smallest "slice" of the brass disc bears the numbers 1, 2, and 3 with a triangular punch mark over one of the numbers. This indicates the condition of the bore. No punch mark is perfect. 1 means a very few dark areas in the corners of the lands and grooves. 2 indicates rust in the corners of the lands and grooves and possible light rust in the grooves. 3 indicates spots of light rust throughout the grooves, but no sharp edges; this is still acceptable. A rifle scoring lower than 3 was rebarreled. My rifle is a 3, but any rifle passed by the Swedish armorers will shoot very well, as the inspectors were quite picky. The bore of my rifle looks good to the naked eye.
The next slice of the little brass disc indicates the elevation aiming error when shooting the standard m/41 Swedish service load, which used a 140 grain boat-tail spitzer bullet at a MV of around 800 m/s. There are three Swedish words in this sector of the disc. "Torped" indicates the 140 grain BT spitzer bullet (there was an earlier 156 grain RN bullet), "Overslag" means over, followed by a space and then "Str." Str is the abbreviation for streck, a unit of angle, and there are 6300 streck to a circle. Streck were used in a manner similar to the way North American shooters use minutes of angle. If there is a number in the blank space between Overslag and Str. it indicates the amount the rifle shoots over in terms of streck. 1 streck equals approximately 1/10 meter at 100 meters. So a 1 in the space on the disc indicates that rifle would shoot 10 cm (or a little less than 4") above the point of aim at 100 meters. The space is blank on my rifle's disc, indicating that it shoots to point of aim.
The largest slice of the disc has an outer and an inner arc of numbers. The outer arc bears numbers "6.51" followed by the numbers 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 (my rifle has a punch mark over the "2"). The inner arc bears the numbers "6.46" followed by 7,8,9,0 (no punch mark over a number in the inner arc on my rifle). It is my understanding that these numbers reveal the nominal bore (6.46mm) and groove (6.51mm) diameters of a new barrel. The punch mark(s) reveals the actual diameter of the particular barrel (and thus, presumably, any wear). Thus, my barrel has a groove diameter of 6.52mm. Apparently the bore diameter of my barrel measured right at 6.46mm.
Found this website.
According to this info my rifle has a bore diameter of 6.50.
The elevation error is 0(zero).
The condition of the barrel is "as new".
The elevation error is 0(zero).
Very rare, for the reason that the m/41 ammo has more speed!?
Regards
Gunner
Is the inspection stamp on the left side of the reciever in front of the serial number H.A. ? And is it in the503491 - 503960 range?
Regards
Gunner
Is the inspection stamp on the left side of the reciever in front of the serial number H.A. ? And is it in the503491 - 503960 range?
Regards
Gunner
On the left in front of the serial number is B.F. The serial number is 507XXX.
AJ
B.F. is the inspector stamp from Birger Fagergren an artillery officer. He was the inspector at CG plant from ca. the middle of 1923 and all of 1924. Your rifle must be made somewhere between september and october 1923. Nice looking one!
Regards
Gunner
B.F. is the inspector stamp from Birger Fagergren an artillery officer. He was the inspector at CG plant from ca. the middle of 1923 and all of 1924. Your rifle must be made somewhere between september and october 1923. Nice looking one!
Regards
Gunner
Thanks for the information. Thank you it is a nice looking one.....I looked for several years before I bought this one.
The swede`s are well liked rifles over here for their very good accuracy and specially the rifle 1896 with their opportunities to use the different diopters like Pram and Söderin. I own a m38 carbine wich i like for its accuracy. Enjoy shooting it.
Regards
Gunner
The swede`s are well liked rifles over here for their very good accuracy and specially the rifle 1896 with their opportunities to use the different diopters like Pram and Söderin. I own a m38 carbine wich i like for its accuracy. Enjoy shooting it.
Regards
Gunner
If I ever find a rifle set up for the diopters, I'll probably buy it.
Very wise decision!
Only way to have a chance against the LE´S, except you are eagle eyed.
Regards
Gunner
5MadFarmers
01-12-2010, 07:26
Some of the '96 rifles retain the yellow tape showing "hold over" or whatever it was. The first '96 I purchased has that sticker.
One of the '38s I purchased has some kind of target sight. I'd have to drag it out. I seem to remember there was more than one kind.
I prefer the full length '96 over the '38s. One of the '38s is a conversion and one as made IIRC.
The second '96 was kind of a funny purchase. Guy had a table full of Mausers of various types. It was about closing time and as I walked by I noticed it. "A beautiful Swede!" I exclaimed. He smiled and named a price. $175 later it was mine.
Yes it was a hold over sticker for the old m/94 round, the new m/41 round had an lighter bullet and more speed.
Congratulations. I think you are going to love this rifle. I, myself, own 5 Swedes of various models. They are one of my favorite rifles to shoot in competition.
The wood of the Swede you purchased is European Beech. It was the favorite wood for most Euro Mausers. Many other woods were used however.
Also, as someone stated before, you can't always count on the brass disc. However, I have found them to be correct most of the time. If yours is accurate, it is indicating a new barrel installation at its last visit to a Swedish armorer.
Snapshooter
12-16-2010, 08:37
I have three myself, a 96 and a 38 both in beautiful condition and a 96 with mismatched numbers that I had.....GASP......Sporterized. Before we all lose our cool, I bought it specifically for that purpose and looked for one with many mismatching numbers, the bolt and receiver are matched but not much else is. I bought it at a gun show about 15 years ago from a big bin of Swedes with banged up stocks.
I cut the barrel 5 inches, had it re-crowned, the bolt turned down, drilled and tapped for weaver mounts and I put a synthetic stock on it. Splurged for a Leopold Vari-X II 2X7 scope and found it shoots so well and so accurately I used it for antelope. Knocked down a really nice antelope in Wyoming a few years ago using Nosler 120 gr. Ballistic Tips. One shot and it was like the rug got pulled out from under him.
Love my swede mausers.
26th LGS
01-16-2011, 12:31
usmc69
The boxed SA you mentioned is a Finnish Army property mark, your rifle was used by the Finns or Swede volunteers against the Russians in WW2
26th LGS
usmc69
The boxed SA you mentioned is a Finnish Army property mark, your rifle was used by the Finns or Swede volunteers against the Russians in WW2
26th LGS
Thanks, must not have seen much use as it is darn near new in condition.
i also have this particular rifle and i load ammo, brass and components quite easy to obtain, and i shoot the rifle in the CMP Vintage games, so far have competed in four events with the rifle, and have won, Senior twice, gold medal four times, and overall once, and i truly believe it is the rifle more than me, this is one hell of a rifle, in fact i was able to obtain a action to make a mid range gun out of it
what i like is my tired old eyeballs like the long LONG rifle, front sight is in a different county than the rear sight
you will enjoy the accuracy of this piece of history, i have no idea of any military service these rifles might have seen, not sure of when and with who Sweden might have gone to war with in the 19th or 20th century
26th LGS
01-17-2011, 10:35
Finland purchased approximately 77,000 rifles and 19.2 million rounds of ammo from Sweden
to use against the Russians in 1940, additionally 8000 Swedish volunteers went to help Finland.
I have a M96 dated 1901 that looks like it was made yesterday, its interesting because the serial number is lower than the beginning of 1901 but higher than the end of 1900. Kind of in between.
26th LGS
Festus39
01-17-2011, 12:36
Should you get into a situation where you can only fire at fifty or a hundred yards;use 107gr. Sierra Match Kings over 19gr. of IMR 4759.
In that 96 Swede it sounds like a pellet rifle and there is no felt recoil.
Festus
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