1910 CG Swedish Mauser

[PAVarminter]

Greetings gentlemen,

I recently (yesterday) purchased a 1910 Carl Gustafs Swedish Mauser from one of my preferred gun shops. I would like some input on whether I paid too much for it.

First a description . . . stock is very good, with just a bit of cosmoline still in it. Bluing I would call "90%". Serial numbers on all parts are matching EXCEPT butt plate, and a barrel band is force-matched. Ramrod also is not matching. My thinking is that all the "working" parts on the rifle are matching, which I am happy with. Alas, it has two small screw holes drilled into the back of the receiver - unfortunate. I don't believe this was done by a Swede armorer as they are not very pretty. The brass armorer's disc is marked "2" for bore condition (out of scale 1 to 3), bore diameter (wear) marked as "2" which I understand means minimal wear, and the "overslag" (sp) is stamped "0" which I assume means it is shooting point of aim at 100 m so no compensation required. Overall it is hard to believe this rifle is 100 years old. Very good condition.

I paid $450 for it. I have not had luck finding ones of this high quality at other gun shops, nor gun shows, and so purchased it. I did get the rifle down from $499 as it was tagged. Any feedback, good or otherwise, would be greatly appreciated. If there is any real interest I will take and post close up pics.

Cheers!

Information

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[jmoore]

No replies, sir, I think becauser this needs to be in the Mauser forum. (it's now been moved)

Pics are always good.

Price- well, if YOU like it to the point where you feel like it was money well spent, then I shouldn't worry about it. At least as long as no debt was incurred!

[aprayinbear]

I agree with JMOORE, if you like it it was a good deal! Could you have saved a few pennies.........maybe, but probably not much in the condition you described.

I recently purchased a 1909 for a lot less, but many parts did not match and the stock had a lot of dings and scrapes. So no one would want mine for a collector's piece. But.........Am I happy?....... absolutely, because she is dead on accurate and a lot of fun to shoot. (which is what I was looking for!)

A few weeks ago I was in my favorite local gun shop and I needed some large rifle primers (for my Swede). They had several choices. The ones I wanted cost a few $$ more. So here I was scratching my head when it hits me, "why squabble over a few pennies that I wouldn't even notice in a day or two."

Moral of the story is.... if your purchase makes you happy, relax and enjoy.

Please post some pics when you can!

[jon_norstog]

Varminter,

The prices **have** gone up. I'm surprised, in a way, that hard times have not shaken loose the huge numbers of collector-grade, but otherwise quite common Swedes and other milsurp that are sitting in gun safes all over the US.

10 years ago a primo, all-matching Swede was $100. At $450 the Swede is still a bargain. It will outshoot, out of the box, any standard-producton Winchester or Remington sporting rifle you can get. You can take it to the range and prove it all day.

And it will probably never depreciate.

enjoy!

jn

[Dutchman]

First a description . . . stock is very good, with just a bit of cosmoline still in it. Bluing I would call "90%". Serial numbers on all parts are matching EXCEPT butt plate, and a barrel band is force-matched.

First off you need to check the stock serial number as a mis-match buttplate usually indicates a mis-match stock. 99 out of a 100.. because the buttplates were individually fitted to stocks. They don't swap well.

Ramrod also is not matching.

<ahem...> It's not a ramrod .

My thinking is that all the "working" parts on the rifle are matching, which I am happy with.

The Swedish Mausers are pretty famous for being "all matching numbers". Things start going downhill when numbers start being mis-match. To segregate numbered parts into "working" and "non-working" parts is... not good. You did ask about the price you paid....

Alas, it has two small screw holes drilled into the back of the receiver - unfortunate. I don't believe this was done by a Swede armorer as they are not very pretty.

Your assumption is incorrect. The two diagonal holes were done with the approval of the Swedish army for attachment of diopter sights and loan to Swedish FSR rifle clubs. Now I'm assuming the two holes you mention are indeed on the rear receiver bridge and are diagonally located, yes? The thread is M3x.05.

and the "overslag" (sp) is stamped "0" which I assume means it is shooting point of aim at 100 m so no compensation required.

Incorrectomundo. The overlslag is the measurement in streck for how high the rifle is shooting. There are 6300 streck in a circle. The word overslag means "arc" literally.

Sweden recently changed to Nato specs when it came to streck. The Nato standard is 6400 streck to a circle. As opposed to 360 degrees, the 6400 streck allows for much more precise measurement and since the military usage for streck was/is mostly for artillery it was changed to conform.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_mil

In the 6300 streck 1 equals .1 meters or 1/10th m at 100 meters.

The m/96 was zeroed for 300 meters. Not 100. At 100 meters it will shoot about 12-15" high with m/41 ammo and "0" front sight blade and "0" marked front sight base, meaning they matched when checked. A lot of us exchange the 0 blade for one like +2.5 so they zero at 100 yds.

The Husqvarna m/38 is zeroed for 100m using m/41 ammo.

Mostly the overslag section on the disc was ignored and not used.

Overall it is hard to believe this rifle is 100 years old. Very good condition.

I paid $450 for it.

I don't patronize guys who ask about Swedish military firearms and prices. I don't do this because some guys actually trust my judgment and experience when it comes to Swedish military firearms and they want the real deal and not patronizing.

You paid for a rifle in excellent condition and "all matching" and got one that is only VG and possibly with a mis-match stock. You overpaid by about $200+ depending on that stock matching. There's a big jump between VG and Excellent when it comes to price and a huge jump in price when you start discounting for mis-match parts.

I have not had luck finding ones of this high quality at other gun shops, nor gun shows,

Not surprised. This is 2010 not 1990 or 1998. December 1997 I paid $90 for a very nice VG m/96 dated 1919 in a beech stock and SA Finn army marked. Purchased from Southern Ohio Gun Dist. I sold it early 2009 for $375 and the buyer was happy as a hog knee deep in rotten cantaloupe.

Do post photos and I'll see if there's anything to note.

Below is what an "excellent" all-matching 1905 Carl Gustaf m/96 looks like. It has a few dings in the wood from transport when it was imported as most were palletized and strapped down. This rifle is un-rebuilt, perfect bore "as-new", beautiful black streaked walnut stock and appears that it is truly unissued. If I were to offer this for sale now it would have to be marketed to a select collector as this rifle lies in the top 10% of m/96 as far as condition and collectibility goes.

For a treatise on "Assessing a rifle for potential purchase & Hierarchy of collectibility - m/96 rifles"
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthre...ty-m-96-rifles

I'd have a hard time parting with this rifle for anything under $750. Even then I'd shed a few tears. On a good day with a still breeze and fair skies I could find a buyer who'd pay $850-1000. It's 105 years old and rather stunning.



A very unusual disc we've not 100% identified but I think it's Swedish navy for a mine sweeper. I still need to do some legwork to nail it down to my satisfaction.






http://dutchman.rebooty.com
A couple/few extra pages that aren't indexed into the website yet:
http://dutchman.rebooty.com/foto_study.html
http://dutchman.rebooty.com/ObieWanFrankenSwede.html
http://dutchman.rebooty.com/CG1905.html
Two new pages I'm not done with:
http://dutchman.rebooty.com/fsr.html
a very nice collection!
http://dutchman.rebooty.com/am-coll.html

If you have any other questions or are looking for accessories let me know and I'll see if I can help. My regular email is listed at the bottom pages of my website. I get email from guys all over the world asking questions so it's no big deal.

I love my m/96 Swedes.



Dutch

[jon_norstog]

Dutch,

that is a nice rifle. I picked up one of those black-streaked walnut stocks a number of years ago, from SARCO, IIRC. I think they might be French walnut.

I had a walnut-stocked m96/38 that had inletting for a shield-shaped brassard on the stock, instead of the disk. the medallion itself was gone. It looked like a US Forest Service marker. I wonder what it was all about - I gave the rifle to my nephew when he was 12 and my brother "sporterized" it for him, so it's all lost now. But the kid took a couple deer ...


jn

[PAVarminter]

Gentlemen,

Thank you so much for your input. This forum is great. Dutchman, to you especially thank you for taking the time to give me this great information. I will post pics of my rifle hopefully tonight and your assessment would be greatly appreciated. One quick question - what is the "ramrod" on my Swede if it is not a ramrod?

thank you all again - pics are on their way for those interested -

[PAVarminter]

Here are 8 pics of the rifle. They are about as high quality as I can do with my camera.

[PAVarminter]

NOTE: I am realizing now that I typed "ramrod" when I meant cleaning rod. I am a flintlock shooter and any rod that goes with the gun registers as "ramrod" to me.

[gunner]

PAVarminter,

nice one! According to my book and to see on the left side of the reciever, it is made in 1911. The Inspector mark is JV which means Jaques Virgin, Captain, and the serial number is in the range of early 1911.

Regards

Gunner