First Mauser(Swedish)

[DaveN]

$420 +CMP bayonet. M1896 made in germany in 1899 for Sweden. It looks to nice to be 112 years old. A guy and his wife at a gun show from his collection. said he has more as shooters no matching numbers if i was interested.all numbers on this one match. it reads

WAFFENFABRIK
MAUSER
ORBERNDORF A/N
1899

Information

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[rich v]

You have purchased one of the finest mauser's ever made, the pride and craftsmanship that went into the swedish mauser's is second to none, i own three > two mod 96's like yours, and one mod 38. congrats on purchasing 'one fine rifle' wait until you shoot it ,with the original open sights it can out-shoot some modern day scoped rifles !

[DaveN]

rich v or anyone in the know, do i use linseed oil on the stock like M1 Garands or some other way to preserve the wood. It's a little dry but in no danger for now.

[Patrick Chadwick]

It's a little dry but in no danger for now.

Yes, for heaven's sake if it looks dry, oil it well. Inside and out (i.e. remove the system to get oil inside the barrel channel and the cutouts - this is preservation, not cosmetics) - I have a Swedish stock that split behind the tang, although the tang was not right back against the edge of the recess (the usual cause). The danger is real!

[Calif-Steve]

My early German-made M96 is the only M96 I own with a poor barrel. Almost all of the M96's have nice barrels. Oh, well.

[rich v]

rich v or anyone in the know, do i use linseed oil on the stock like M1 Garands or some other way to preserve the wood. It's a little dry but in no danger for now.

my favorite concoction is a mixture of linseed oil,gum turpentine,pure beeswax mixed well and hand rubbed into the wood, leaving to dry about an hour then buff off excess. do two or three times depending on how dry it is : plus it smells good too. if you choose not to mix up this potion use a good quality brand of linseed oil HAND RUBBED into the stock will do fine, let dry wipe off and do it again.

[Patrick Chadwick]

My early German-made M96 is the only M96 I own with a poor barrel. Almost all of the M96's have nice barrels.

You had really bad luck there! The Swedes really cared for their rifles, which were meticulously inspected and the condition noted on those well-known brass discs which, unfortunately, have so often been swapped and faked that they are no longer a reliable guide to the (in-service) condition of the rifle.

Up to now, the only bad barrel I have seen on an M96 was in a dealer's reserve rack. It must have been fired with the muzzle plugged with snow or mud. The barrel had not burst, but just behind the foresight block it had bulged to look like a spring onion. Everything else was pico bello, and it would have been an ideal candidate for a "private conversion" into an M96/38.

[DaveN]

I read that they stamped all parts with the last 3 numbers and if any parts were replaced they had to restamp the part. original barrels have full number but if replaced only last 3. i took it completely apart to oil stock inside out as per Patricks advice and the stock is all matching full serial numbers and barrel has all 5 numbers. the oil really brought out the rich color in the what should be oak. the ser# 20030 indicates it was the 30th built in 1899 as i read they started at 20000 that year. (Swedish Mauser book on amazons look inside the book). also the front sight shroud seems to have been an upgrade as it slides right off(learned by accident)(and I had an accident, may need stitches, boy that frt site is sharp) and then the sight looks like most of the earlier pictures I've seen

[Patrick Chadwick]

the oil really brought out the rich color in the what should be oak.

Oak is far to easy to split, and is unlikely to be found used for a gunstock. Please note, I have not written impossible, but highly unlikely. Walnut was universal at first, later beech was used, plus odd instances of ash*, maple*, elm* and - yes, (oak*.

If an 1899 Mauser M96 rifle, built under a contract that was so closely supervised by the Swedes that they even supplied the steel for the barrels, has a stock that is not walnut, I would suspect that it is a replacement.

Quote from Dana Jones, P. 70

"All Oberndorf-made rifles originally had walnut stocks".



*as emergency measures caused by WWI interrupting deliveries of suitalbe walnut.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Dan Jones writes about alternative stock woods: "... others thought to be oak were, in reality, slow-growth beech (which can be very dense)."

So if it looks like oak to you, maybe it is actually that kind of beech.

But it would still be non-original for an 1899 Oberndorf M96.