First Mauser(Swedish)

[Harlan (Deceased)]

First time at bat and you hit a grand slam!

I agree with Patrick (naturally) but you may have meant to say walnut to begin with.
Be generous with the oil regardless of which type you use. (Oil is cheap)

Well done Dave!
~ Harlan

[gunner]

Well made Dave!

Follow Patrick´s advice and have fun!

[DaveN]

I'm sorry I meant walnut, I was looking at my oak trees in my yard and then typed the wrong wood but heck i don't know it maybe beech though the inside of the stock has the full ser# (looks to be a light stamp in both the stock and hand guard and since this is one of the earliest ones and beech was used late i just figured it was walnut. What ever it is i like it. I thought maybe a european walnut. I found the reference where I saw the stock info. Surplus firearms G&A, Rifle of Neutrality. early production rifles had straight grip walnut stocks and hand guards while those on late prod. had elm or beech.(page 112) The oil made the wood jump out with beauty. Steve at my gun shop looked it over and thought it looked great. I plan on a few more light coats and then will maintain it on a regular basis.

[Calif-Steve]

Swede story: One of my close buddies worked for years in the last downtown gun store in San Francisco. Several years ago they bought 40-50 M96's from an inmporter. All new, mint rifles, still in the grease. My buddy said they started flying out the door and he told the store gunsmith to grab one for him. The gunsmith went through the pile and hand selected 3 that were stunning. Well the day came and all of the M96's were gone. The gunsmith grabbed my buddy and said there was one left, gone and get it. The 2 of them went in the rear of the store and pulled the rifle from its box. The gunsmith found a cleaning rod and ran a pacth down the bore. The patch hung-up. The had a heck of a time getting the patch out and then poured Hoppes No9 down the bore, and then pushed the rod into the chamber and pushed hard. The patch hung-up again. But the bore was wet and out came the patch. The 'smith put on a bronze brush and worked the bore. He then looked down the bore and saw no rifling, only solid rust. They guessed after proofing firing the bore was left uncleaned and was coated with grease. They put the rifle on the rack as sold it "AS IS". End of stroy.

[Patrick Chadwick]

he oil made the wood jump out with beauty.

Well how about a photo showing how it looks now?

[Left250]

X 2 what Rich said. One of the best Mausers ever made. I can confirm that with open military sights my rifles will at least equal most of the guys at our club with scoped modern rifles! At 100 yds, I have shot on two individual days 5 shot groups that measure just over 1/2" with my CG 80. With my M94 carbine at 100 yds I've shot 1" groups. These rifles are over 100 years old!!
Congratulations on an excellent purchase. Enjoy shooting these pieces of history.

[DaveN]

here they are:

[Patrick Chadwick]

VEEEERRRRY NICE !!!

- Now let's see how it shoots!

[DaveN]

I've got ammo for this one but have not been to a proper range since 2002. May take some sorting out. Did do some plinking with some sears roebuck(circa 1968-1980 22s that I just acquired ) on my brother inlaws ranch/farm(franch) and like new, shot great. High power rifle will be shot some where else.

[Dutchman]

The 1899 Oberndorf m/96 in question has a beech replacement stock. Replacement stocks had the full serial number not just 3 digits. But this one is beech so even though it is correct and matching the stock is not original to 1899.

linseed oil generally needs to be applied in very thin coats rubbed in by hand and then wiped off.

Dutch
http://dutchman.rebooty.com
Swedish Mausers & rolling blocks