Found 2 Swedish 6.5x55's

[originalsocko]

I found 2 Carl Gustavs 6.5x55's at a local shop one has to be a carbine (cause it is as short as my sporterized one that I have. Any ideas what I should look for so I don't end up with a wall hanger or a injury machine.
As far as all the questions I have ask in the past Thanks to all for the help.

[bortle]

I'm a bit fond of the Swede's myself. I stick with the all original military look.
There are 3 different models. 96, 38 and 94. The 96 is the longest. The 38 looks like the 96 only shorter. A 94 is really shorter and stocked to the muzzle.
Swede ammo isn't corrosive so the barrel "should" be good.
All matching numbers is a plus. They are usually real good shooters with low recoil.
http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewforum.php?f=33 Try here

[hooknladder]

I love my '96 Carl Gustav 1910. I shoot PRVI ammo in it and even with iron sights it is as accurate as I can see. Shooting steel silhouettes at 500 meters isn't a challenge. I did have a pierced primer with some Hanson factory ammo. There is no gas relief on these rifles, so the gas comes back through the bolts. Eye protection is a must. Glad I had mine on.

[Noah_Zark]

Here's a piece on inspection of milsurp rifles that I put together for another site several years ago:

First, put together the following kit for your shoulder bag:

Small flashlight; Mini Maglite or one of the Streamlight Stylus pen lights are fine. You do NOT need a traditional borelight, IMO and experience.

Magnifying glass or a pair of cheap "cheater" reading glasses, about 2.50 or 3.00 magnification. These are a must if you are over 40 anyway.

Sectional cleaning rod and patches for 30 cal. (for a quick pass thru a bore to remove preservative turds, dust, spiders, etc.)

Paper towels (to wipe down an excessively preserved rifle before transporting in your vehicle)

Wet wipes in a ziploc bag (to clean preservative off your hands)

Small scissors or sharp pocketknife (to cut patches smaller)

A "milspec" cartridge for each of the rifles they you expect to examine, preferally a dummy, but not necessary. A milsurp round is ideal. This is for "quick and dirty) gauging the mouth of the barrel and the rifling.

Optional: Headspace gages if you are serious about collecting/shooting and can afford them.


As with any used firearm, particularly milsurps, examine the following:

Open the action and verify that no round is chambered and that the magazine is empty.

Does the S/N on the bolt handle match that of the receiver, and preferably in the same stamping font? For a rimless cartridge-firing rifle that headspaces on the case shoulder, it usually is a plus for the original bolt to be present. Note that for rifles chambered for rimmed cases like the 303 British and the 7.62x54, the cartridge headspaces on the rim and matched bolts are not as big a factor. For shooter purposes, electropencil "forced-match" S/Ns are generally acceptable.

Look closely at the muzzle crown. It helps to shine a flashlight directly on the crown, and to use your magnifier glasses for viewing. Are the lands sharply defined, or rounded, or are they even present? Taking your "milspec" cartridge (ask permission first) and insert the bullet end of the cartridge into the muzzle. As a rule, there should be between 1/8" and 1/4" of bullet jacket showing between the end of the barrel and the cartridge case mouth. If the bullet drops all the way into the muzzle clean up to the case mouth, either the rifling is gone or the bore was counterbored. The latter is not necessarily a bad thing, but if there is no counterbore the rifling is gone at the muzzle and the weapon will likely "pattern". I don't even look through the bore without checking the crown and muzzle condition first.

Shoulder the rifle and sight it. Are the sights aligned with the rifle held as vertically as you can? Are the sights tight, or is there sideplay of the front insert or the rear sight leaf? Is the front sight offset drastically to either side? This may not mean that there is a problem, but it might indicate that the barrel is not in time, sights are not aligned, or that the barrel is bent. At any rate, I personally find offset sight inserts to be annoying and usually avoid buying an example with offset sights.

Set the butt on the floor or your shoe top and sight it from the muzzle end, paying attention to the radial position of the front and rear sights. Do the sights appear to be aligned to each other and to the receiver? (This is particularly useful for AK47 and AKM clones and rebuilt/rearsenaled boltguns) Is the front sight drifted in its dovetail excessively one way or the other? This may not be a bad thing, and although the rifle may shoot POA with cocked sights I personally find excessively drifted sights to be annoying.

If the rifle passes so far, open the bolt and with the butt resting on the floor or your shoe, shine the flashlight beam directly on the boltface. This will reflect light up the bore, but not so much that it will be blinding. I find the traditional borelight with the curved plastic lens tube to be too bright and the brightness often overpowers getting a good look at the lands and grooves the full length of the barrel. Look for sharpness of the rifling lands, rust, etc. Ask the dealer or owner if you can run a dry patch through the bore. If they say yes, remove the bolt (if possible) and clean from the breech. Place a paper towel on the table or floor so that it will catch any debris expelled by the patch. Orange/brown on the patch might signify either preservative or rust, and if it feels dry and gritty it may likely be rust. Greasy means preservative, especially if you pushed out a big preserv turd. Check the more again. Dark bores do not mean bad shooters, look for sharp rifling all the way to the muzzle, and do the bullet depth check on the muzzle as outlined above.

With the bolt removed if possible, shine the light into the chamber and check for scratches or gouges. Burnish marks are no problem; deep gouges will likely cause difficult chambering and most certainly difficult if not impossible extraction due to case walls expanding into the gouges and "locking" the case to the chamber. Set the rifle down and walk on if there are deep gouges in the chamber.

Check the small parts for marks or serial numbers. For example, when checking No4 Enfields made by Savage, the more metal bits that have a blocky "S" stamped thereon the closer it is to original condition. Similarly, the 96 Swede Mauser has about 15 or 17 different parts that have the S/N or the last three digits of the S/N stamped thereon. All matching is not necessary to be a good shooter, but it helps for resale if you change your mind or interests a year from now and go to sell the weapon. The Swedish M38 did not have all the same metal bits stamped with the last three digits of the S/N the way the M96 did.

The brass stock disc on Swedish Mausers indicated the bore diameter (a triangle stamped over a 6.5 -something number), the corrosion/erosion state of the bore (a triangle over a 1 - little wear or corrosion, 2 - some wear or corrosion, or 3 - worst condition but still acceptable, or no triangle at all - best condition, no wear or rust). I've fired Swedes with a "3" bore and they still were 1 MOA or under.

Check the stock and handguards over for cracks. Mosin-Nagants are prone to cracks on either side of the receiver tang, and often show repair blocks. This doesn't affect shooting, but it is not unusual. Unrepaired cracks might mean the purchase of a replacement stock in the future, and that means that the total cost of the rifle is actually higher than say another example on the same table.

Examine the blueing or phosphating on the metal parts, and look for any areas that are brighter, smoother, or a different color as compared to surrounding areas. This would indicate a refinish at some point. No biggie for a rearsenaled Mosin or the like, but a show stopper if it is a high-buck rare milsurp that you are looking at. Likewise, look at the interface between the barrel/receiver and the stock where visible, and examine for rust or pitting.

Assuming that you have headspace gauges and know the proper procedure for using them, and that the dealer/owner gives permission, check the headspace. There are many opinions as to which "one" gauge to buy, and IMO you should get a FIELD gage as that represents the "outer limit" for shootability. If you can afford two, get a GO and a FIELD, as that will define the entire envelope for "shootability." Your opinion may vary; this is a suggestion. If the bolt and receiver match for S/N, chances are the headspeace will be fine, but it's still best to check if possible.

Finally, but probably most importantly, do some homework first and know something about your intended target firearms. You may just run across that extremely rare piece of which the seller is not aware.

Noah

[bortle]

All good advise there from Noah_Zark.

[Sniperfreak]

Just got my first Swede a few days ago(a Finn-marked 1920 Carl Gustafs), been wanting one for a long time, but I had a very strict criteria limiting my options, specifically that I only wanted a Swede if it were Finnish "SA" marked, as I wanted a Swede that saw combat, and, well, Finnish service is the only way a rifle from a nation that is perpetually neutral would have seen combat (77,000 M/96 rifles were purchased by/loaned to the Finns during their "Winter War" with the Soviets in 1939-40, with anouther ~8000 M/96 rifles and 200 M/94 carbines left behind by Swedish volunteers that served in Finland in that conflict that were absorbed into the Finnish depots). Still looking for ammo, and waiting for a nice day to take it for a test drive...

[bortle]

Samco has swede military ammo. Cases are kinda dirty though.