Old German 6.5

Hdhic · Feb 12, 2016

I bought a German contract mod. 96 Mauser a couple of weeks ago. It's an Oberndorf a/n made in 1900. The old rifle is in good shape, the bore is brite. Looks like she'll be good for another
100 years. I took it out and shot 5 rnds at 75 off a rest, think she'll do to keep. Hdhic

Hdhic · Feb 12, 2016

Here's the 75 yd. target. Hdhic.

DocB · Feb 12, 2016

It's probably a model 95 or 98. Maybe a Swiss contract. 6.5 mm is a little odd. Got one in the vault but don't remember what country it shipped to.

moosedog · Feb 12, 2016

6.5 is probably going to be Swedish. They are accurate guns and a pleasure to shoot.

lebomm · Feb 12, 2016

Many of the Swedish rifles were built on contract in Germany. The action of your rifle is clearly the Swedish pattern, so I'd bet you have one of the contract rifles.
Oops, just reread your post where you called it a "German contract rifle", and it is most definitely NOT a Model 98.
Enjoy !

Larry

Andyd · Feb 12, 2016

It appears to be a Swedish M96 in 6.5x55, they were first made by Mauser and later made by Carl Gustav and Husqvarna under license. There is also a Swedish M94 cavalry carbine, 96/38 carbine conversion, and the 38 carbine.

k22fan · Feb 12, 2016

All you need now is a moose to put out in front of your 6.5x55. The cartridge is smaller than American hunting literature writes we should choose for moose but widely used for them in Sweden.

It is an easy cartridge to reload with jacketed bullets. However it is a little more challenging than .30 calibers for getting good cast bullet accuracy.

rwsmith · Feb 12, 2016

Now that's.....

Now that's a rifle. And especially in such good shape for being over 100 years old.

5-Shot · Feb 13, 2016

Yes, it's a Swede. You can tell by that strange tab on the back of the bolt. I read instructors inserted a bit of leather between it and the rest of the bolt to protect the firing pin during dry fire practice.

Ed

sheepdawg · Feb 13, 2016

The serial number will tell you just who it was made for. If it's in the 30,000 to 60,000 range it was made for the Swedish military. This is a fairly common rifle. If it's in the 01 to 5,000 range you have one made for the Swedish civilian shooting societies, later known as the FSR. Does it have a brass disk in the right side of the stock?

Swedish Mausers, both German and Swedish made are fantastic shooters, usually capable of m.o.a. or better. They were made using the finest Swedish steel and to a tolerance not found on any other military rifle of the period. The 6.5X55 round is a pretty darn hard hitting, accurate round with a somewhat mild recoil. Unlike the German 8mm. you can shoot a Swede all day long and not need a handful of Advil afterward.

I love Swedeish Mausers, they're in my heritage, I only own 11 of them. Here's a good site to learn more about them.

House of Karlina,Gev

DWalt · Feb 13, 2016

The 6.5x55mm Swedish cartridge with heavier bullets has a very high bullet sectional density and therefore provides very deep penetration on heavier animals such as moose. That's why it does so well for that purpose. There's not much on four legs that the 6.5x55 won't handle satisfactorily.

Frank46 · Feb 14, 2016

The origional military bullet was a 156-160 grain round nosed flat base bullet. Norma made their factory ammo with I think a 156 grain exposed lead tip round nosed flat base bullet. In digging in my stash found a box of these I didn't even know I had. Anyway, I love the Swedish mausers and have 5 1896 models and one Husky M38 short rifle. One of the 1896's by Carl Gustav the previous owner had the barrel cut just in front of the stock cap sort of ala mannlicher schoenaur frilled and tapped for a scope. Unfortunatley the gunsmith didn't listen to the instructions that was given regarding the bolt handle alterations and just lowered the bolt handle. Real shame as the rifle is still in excellent condition with very little wear on the rifling. enjoy what you have they ain't making any more. Frank

Hdhic · Feb 15, 2016

Sheepdawg, this is my 2nd 6.5 Swede. I used to shoot military bolt action
matches at our GC. I tried a 38 Mosin, then a k-98. Then I bought a Carl
Gustav made in 1917. Here is a plcture of one of my targets from a club
matche. It scores 100 with 7xs and measured 1.54 inches. This was 10 shots off the bench @ 100 yds. Hdhic

sheepdawg · Feb 15, 2016

Darn good shooting!! Did you do that with factory ammo or handloads? I've found that my Swedes perform better when you find that handload a particular rifle really likes.

Perhaps my favorite shooter in military configuration is an elm stocked 1915 m96. It's still got the original 101 year old barrel, maybe 25% of the bluing left and the bore shows a lot of wear but it never ceases to amaze me at the range, it's gone under m.o.a but it took a while to find the loads it really likes.

I used 44.0 grains of IMR 7828ssc and 140 grain Barnes Match burners for these groups at 100 yards.

Swedes really seem to like slower powders.

Hdhic · Feb 17, 2016

Dawg, my favorite load for my old Carl Gustav rifle is 41.5 grains of
4320 and a 140 Sierra match king. My old Lyman book said it was the
accuracy load. Here's a pic of my 2000 "trophy" from the state-wide
meet. Hdhic.

BigBill · Feb 17, 2016

When Carl Gustaf couldn't build the Swedish mausers fast enough the swedes sent there quality steels to Oberndorf in Germany to manufacture them there dated 1899/1900 I believe. Husqvarna didn't manufacture them until 1943.
Shoot that baby at 100yds. Most were sighted in at 200yd zero. I purchased the higher front sight and zeroed my 1907 Carl Gustaf m96
At 100yds. Using new sellier & bellot 131gr sp ammo she shot 1 1/2" groups constantly. The SWAT guys were shooting near me at the range and came over to talk with me. There jaws dropped when they heard it was a 100yo swede 6.5 Mauser. With no scope. They said they had two scoped swat rifles that didn't shoot that good. My 1907 Swedish babe makes me proud on every outing.

Most surplus military bolt action rifles have a 200yd zero or a 300yd zero.

Most of the early m38's were cut down m96's thus 96/38 as some call them. The only new m38's were manufactured by husqvarna. The name husqvarna goes back a century in firearms maybe more.
I filled a safe with 6.5 swedes.

Being from the military surplus guns I rate them in accuracy,

1. Swede 6.5mm Mauser
2. Swiss k31 7.5mm Swiss
3. Finnish m39 7.62x54r
4. Russian Mosin 91/30 7.62x54r
5. German k98k 8mm Mauser

I managed to squirrel away the 6.5mm 139gr m41 sniper ammo.(swede) I never shot any yet. I been shooting the FNM BRAND and the sellier & bellot ammo.

sheepdawg · Feb 17, 2016

Hdhic that trophy's a hoot.

BigBill the Swedes zeroed in their Mausers at 300 meters.

Y'all need to come up with one of these. In the 60s Carl Gustafs, Norma and FSR approved smiths converted 60,000 military Mausers into CG63 target rifles. This one was converted in 1965 by Carl Gustafs using an 1895 Oberndorf m94 receiver. According to some very well known collectors, both American and Swedish, it's the lowest serial number on a CG63 they've ever seen. These were built for accuracy and they show it. This one was later tweaked by master smith and Swedish Champion shooter Alvar Holmgren. The triggers on them are so sweet. These can't be used in military bolt action matches since they are considered a civilian conversion, besides it just wouldn't be fair.

BigBill · Feb 17, 2016

We love Swedish mausers.
There sporting bolt action rifles are awesome too.

Now turn the gun over. Look at the crowns that are stamped in the wood before the trigger guard. Each stamp is a record when the gun was turned into the Arsenal to be repaired. To me the more stamps the better maintenance was done on the rifle. Once the accuracy fell off they were repaired. Go to the house of karlina it explains all this. This is why these rifle are so accurate today.

The stock disc. I don't see any difference in the amount of rust in the bore. They must use a bore scope. I notice any rating still shoots great. Go figure.

Hdhic · Feb 18, 2016

I love the elm stocked rifle sheepdawg. IMO the mod 96s are prettier than
the 63s but I don't own one either. I'd probably love one if I got to shoot it. My CG hav the two holes tapped in the top. When we got it my friend
looked at them and said, I bet this one will shot. The 1 3/16 10 shot group
was the best I ever did. Hdhic

sheepdawg · Mar 1, 2016

Here's a new addition, a 1908 FSR m96. A military Mauser made into a target rifle probably by someone in one of the Swedish Shooting clubs, I would guess in the 1950s. No import stamp so it's been here for a while. An absolute tack driver the first time out. Groups shot at 100 yds.

Old German 6.5

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