Picked Up the 1896 Swedish Mauser.....

[Gunner]

Very wise decision!

Only way to have a chance against the LE´S, except you are eagle eyed.

Regards

Gunner

[5MadFarmers]

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.

[Gunner]

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.

[leecork]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[pelago]

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]

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]

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