Carl Gustafs 1906 M/96

[Phosphorus32]

I found this 1906 Carl Gustafs M/96 at the LGS Thursday night. I didn’t “need” a fourth M/96, but it was love at first sight when I saw the old growth Walnut on this 113 year old rifle.

[Greasemonkey]

   dat wood will cause wood..

I didn’t “need” a fourth M/96

Alrighty then, send that member of the Swedish bikini team with the fine, hot butt my way.....since you "didn't" need a forth.


Swedes are like SKS's and Mosins.........1 or 3 or 6 ........is never enough.

[carls sks]

nice find, will have to learn more about them. 

[Phosphorus32]

  dat wood will cause wood..

I didn’t “need” a fourth M/96

Alrighty then, send that member of the Swedish bikini team with the fine, hot butt my way.....since you "didn't" need a forth.


Swedes are like SKS's and Mosins.........1 or 3 or 6 ........is never enough.

Yup, that wood is too much. I'll live with the 4th, perhaps I need a 5th to have a full, uh, basketball team.

I agree, 4 M/96s, 2 M/38s, 1 M/94 and an M/94-14, but a few more to get.

[Phosphorus32]

nice find, will have to learn more about them. 

Thanks! 
The M/96 and other Swedish Mauser models are small ring Mausers chambered in 6.5x55mm Swedish. The M/94 carbines were the first Mauser adopted by Sweden, with about 12,000 made at Mauser Oberndorf (MO) and 115,000 made at Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori (Carl Gustafs State Rifle Factory; CG), under license. The carbines were followed by the M/96 long rifle, with about 40,000 made at Mauser Oberndorf, 517,000 made under license at CG, and a mere 18,000 made at Husqvarna during WWII. Finally the M/38 short rifle, with about 66,000 manufactured at Husqvarna, and about 55,000 cut down from existing M/96s made either at CG or MO.

They are really nice shooters, being made to very high precision, and chambered in the flat-shooting modest recoil 6.5x55 cartridge. The Swedes, like the Swiss, never made military ammunition with potassium chlorate (corrosive) primers, so the bores are typically excellent. They also had stringent reject standards during refurb, so the surplus rifles with the worst bore corrosion rating of "3" are typically still in good shape.

[Greasemonkey]

I have always wanted to see a trained shooter take a m/96 and a K31 and stretch them to their limits just see what kind of results show up. I have no doubt either could eclipse many newer offerings.

[Phosphorus32]

I have always wanted to see a trained shooter take a m/96 and a K31 and stretch them to their limits just see what kind of results show up. I have no doubt either could eclipse many newer offerings.

Definitely. I believe either one is an ~1 moa shooter in the right hands with military ammo m/41 or GP11 for the Swede and Swiss, respectively. In the right hands, with developed hand loads, they're sub-moa.

[Larry D.]

Sometimes it's OK to check out another mans wood, and this is one of them.

Absolutely gorgeous!

[Justin Hell]

 
That is a gorgeous hunk of wood. It almost distracts enough to not notice the gun in there.

If all the ammo was gone, it could live on another hundred years as a club and still look nice.  I shudder to think what a modern firearm would run these days with cathedral grade furniture on it. Does it weigh noticeably more than the other three?  You would think it would be some pretty dense wood...enough to think if you set the stock on some felt and struck it, you would get a tone like a xylophone. 

[1mlt]

Many years ago I had the fortune of trading a 30.06 semi-auto banger for an unfinished redo of a K98. The K98 was actually a Persian Mauser that was being re-barreled as a 25-06. This was the one with the "black cat" engraved into the top of the receiver. This was in the early 70's. The 25-06 then was still referred to as a "wildcat". Fast forward a bit. That was the most accurate rifle I had ever fired up to that time. I could shoot 5 shots at 100 yards and all would be touching about 80% of the time. My house was broken into and all the guns walked away. Fast forward again. Sharon and I were at a gun show here in Houston. This was around 1999 or 2000. I walked by a table and froze in my tracks. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a greasy mess that looked like a "K98 Mauser". My heart skipped a beat. Maybe another "Persian"? Yup, it was a Mauser all right. It was a Swedish M96 in terrible shape on the outside. The stock was mostly black with grease, grit, grime, dirt. It was nasty. The barrel was slick and shinny. The bolt was tight. The safety was crisp. Trigger pull was smooth. The "disc read 0,1. It was numbs matching. OK, how much? He says 150.00, I'm selling it for a neighbor lady. Her hubby died. I told her it likely wouldn't bring much more because it was in such bad condition. I asked will you take a check? He says sure. I bring it home spend 2 weeks cleaning it up. It now looks similar to the one above. I have the more common "yellow blond" color stock. It is far and away the most accurate rifle I have ever fired. This rifle in the hands of a guy 1/2 my age likely would win long distance shooting contests. I have no idea how far it will shoot accurately. I have peeps tell me out to 1,200 yards in the right hands. I believe it.

IF you guys ever have a chance to get one, DO SO, DAMN THE PRICE TAG. You won't regret it. My M96 will be the last rifle that leaves my hands. They are works of art that flat out work.

[Phosphorus32]

That is a gorgeous hunk of wood. It almost distracts enough to not notice the gun in there.

If all the ammo was gone, it could live on another hundred years as a club and still look nice.  I shudder to think what a modern firearm would run these days with cathedral grade furniture on it. Does it weigh noticeably more than the other three?  You would think it would be some pretty dense wood...enough to think if you set the stock on some felt and struck it, you would get a tone like a xylophone. 

Thanks!  You're right, a chunk of woodworkers grade walnut of that quality and figure might be worth close to the cost of the rifle these days. No heavier than the others, that I can distinguish.

[Phosphorus32]

1mlt great story.

Totally agree that they are a must have. They remain relatively inexpensive. Picked up my mismatched 1912 a few months ago for $250 at a gun show. I happily paid $395 (after state tax) out the door for the latest "matching", once-refurbed 1906 that is the subject of this post.

[Phosphorus32]

Here's the current quartet of M/96 rifles in my gun room (bottom to top): 1906, 1909, 1912, 1920 CG. Actually, the 1909 and 1920 are M/96b rifles since they have the end threaded for the blank firing device. The white nylon thread protector is Swedish issue, the blued steel protector is an aftermarket US product. The low production year 1920 CG took a trip to Finland and back to serve in The Winter War, as denoted by the boxed SA on the receiver (last pic).

[Greasemonkey]

  that's so disgustingly sexy..

I almost need a moment......

[1mlt]

Mine is Carl Gustafs, dated 1901.

[Phosphorus32]

that's so disgustingly sexy..

I almost need a moment......

 

[Larry D.]

I almost started touching myself.......

That's some sexy stuff right there.

[Phosphorus32]

I almost started touching myself.......

That's some sexy stuff right there.

  Thanks. Swedish beauties, for sure.

[Greasemonkey]

Here's the current quartet of M/96 rifles in my gun room (bottom to top): 1906, 1909, 1912, 1920 CG. Actually, the 1909 and 1920 are M/96b rifles since they have the end threaded for the blank firing device. The white nylon thread protector is Swedish issue, the blued steel protector is an aftermarket US product. The low production year 1920 CG took a trip to Finland and back to serve in The Winter War, as denoted by the boxed SA on the receiver (last pic).

I got a 1905, 1923(real low production year) and a 1907 m/94....... I'm slacking in the Swedes. They just don't show up often for sale around here. It's also one of the few ammos that's strangely, hard to get local.. you want 6.5 Needmore, 6.5 Thisorthat, just not Swede.. there is tons of it. One place keeps me stocked in Prvi or S&B when the urge strikes 

[firstchoice]

That is some awesome grain in that stock. Beautiful!

firstchoice