M38 Swedish Mauser

Before I got into Enfields, Swedish Mausers were my thing. I had a sporterised M96 for varmint and small game work and a M96 for service competition. Time goes by and the sporterised M96 gets worn out, I sell the M96 and try to sell a M38 that I acquired along the way.
Lucky for me it didn't sell and I have taken possession back and after handling it I have rekindled the love affair. I do like my Enfields now more than ever but the Swedes are a class act. From what I can tell from the stock disk it's been well used but it shoots well and as far as I can tell, it has all matching numbers.
Enough talk, a few pics. If anyone can interpret the disk I would be grateful !

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...05/m38_2-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...05/m38_1-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...05/m38_3-1.jpg

This is an early version of the stock disk. Yours indicates that the rifle was originally made with a 6.50 mm bore, and a condition 1 (new) bore condition.

It has been inspected later, and the bore is measured at 6.53 mm and condition 3 condition. The Swedes were quite strict on bore conditions, and tend to overstate the condition of the bore as to what we might consider here in North America.

Condition 3 (the smaller pie shaped sector) is indicative of small spots of rust in the bore, with no sharp edges to catch anything on, but the rifle is still in very shootable condition. In other words, the barrel may be dark, but the lands and grooves are distinct. This does not indicate that the rifle is in poor condition, only that the bore shows some wear and or rust/corrosion, but is very acceptable for use and shooting with no problems. There were 5 grades of barrels, and the Swedish Military never used weapons in poor condition.

The "Torpedam" on this disk identifies it as an older disk. Newer disks have "Torped". This refers to the pointed boat tailed m/41 bullet. "Overslag" means over. "Str" means Streck, a unit of measurement roughly equal to 3.6 inches at 100 Meters. There is no number in the space between the Overslag and the Torpedam, so no compensation is indicated for point of impact for the two different Military type of bullets the Swedes used, the 156 grain m/94 round nose, and the 139 grain m/41 Spitzer bullets. If, for example, there was a "1" stamped in this space, you would aim .1 meter high (3.6 inches) at 100 meters when using the older, round nosed, m/94 rounds.

There are two things you might want to take notice of. First is that the rifle is a Husqvarna 1941 date, and the bent bolt handle. This is correct for this rifle. A little over 28,600 rifles were made during this year.

The second thing is what puzzles me a bit. The stock disk may have been changed. As I stated, this is an early stock disk, and the Husqvarna produced rifles were the last ones made in any mass production of the m/38 or m/96 rifles. As such, you would expect to see a later type stock disk on these rifles. Maybe a more advanced collector of the Swedes might comment on this in another post.
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Thanks buffdog, appreciate the info. As with all milsurps, once they leave the military's loving grip all sorts of things happen to them. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the disc was changed, hopefully someone can give me some more insight.

Nice rifle xa, how does it shoot? Walnut stock? I have an all matching '42 Husky that seems to have the correct disc. One difference I noticed on mine is that where the bore data is it has 6.51 followed by #'s 2 thru 9, second line has 6.46 followed by 7 thru 0. It has a 6.52 bore condition 3 at last inspection I suppose. There also appears to be a difference in the finishes and the reciever stampings. Mine shows a higher degree of polishing and the stampings are'nt as heavy.

It shoots as a swede does, very well! The m96 I had was better but the extra barrel length would account for that. I am no good at identifying wood so I can tell you it isn't balsa wood and that's about it.
I have only had m96s previously and the finish was always much better than this. Maybe they were getting nervous about the time they made this and rushed it through? Either that or it was made on a Friday !

Gee Jeff here I am trying to unload a Brazilian one and you take possesion of a Swede. But hey I always prefered the Brazilian girls over the Swedish girls.

So many lines but I will refrain !

Following on from my range report where I got a nice group but in the wrong spot I spent a little time looking at the stock of the M38. It is not the original stock and although the barrel was centered it was jammed up tight against the wood. Not even a thin piece of paper would go through.
In the absence of the proper tools I got a texta and wrapped the sandpaper around it and started to relieve it a little. I kept on going until I could slide the paper through but no more as I figure if I get too excited it would look funny and it is a whole lot harder to put wood back than to remove it. You will see where I sanded from in the following picture. I only went back to the second step channel as I figured it would be of little consequence that far back. Note the amount of space I have to work in !
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...bedding1-1.jpg

Anyway, it is now just floating so it will be interesting to see if it has made any change to the point of impact. Back to the range next monday I spose !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xa-coupe

I kept on going until I could slide the paper through but no more as I figure if I get too excited it would look funny and it is a whole lot harder to put wood back than to remove it.

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I think you did the right thing. Hope it works! If it is improved, but still not quite right, then you may have to carry on back to the area with the second slot. But I would not touch the area where the number is stamped in the barrel channel.

Looking forward to your range report

Patrick
:wave:

Thanks Patrick. It will be a couple of weeks till I get back to the range however by then I should have the no1 Mk3 heavy barrel ready to roll as well. I think it will be a pretty interesting time from a lot of perspectives. I might even take my tools ( texta/sandpaper ) and do some on the fly changes if I need to. It was pretty hard up against the wood so I would think that I will get some change from this, just not sure how much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by buffdog

The stock disk may have been changed. As I stated, this is an early stock disk, and the Husqvarna produced rifles were the last ones made in any mass production of the m/38 or m/96 rifles. As such, you would expect to see a later type stock disk on these rifles. Maybe a more advanced collector of the Swedes might comment on this in another post.

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Without being an "advanced collector", I think the answer is quite simple: these stock disks are no longer a guarantee of anything! They have been stripped from scrap stocks and refitted in other rifles to give a "better" rating, and even copied. I have seen a tobacco-tin full at a sale. Even if a disk is originaly to a given rifle, it only indicates what the state of the barrel was when the rifle was inspected in active service, and that can now be the best part of a century ago! Heaven knows what hands it has been through since. Buffdog, I agree with you - that disk is not original to that rifle. The disk has been retrofitted in a cut-out that was too large for any stock disk. In other words, my guess is that at one time a previous owner installed a coin or medallion in place of the original disk, and that this has since in its turn been replaced by a stock disk from the spares box. One sure-fire way to tell that such a component is not original, is to examine it under a watchmaker's eyeglass. There wil be a mismatch between scratches and wear on the metal compared with the wood.

The full lowdown on stock disks can be found in "The Crown Jewels" by Dana Jones, P 159-169. 10 full pages with photos which I shall not attempt to repeat here!

Patrick
:wave:

It's not even clear that the disk belongs to that stock which doesn't belong to that action. In a way I was glad to see it didn't match so I wasn't about to desecrate an all matching original !
Having said that, bubba doesn't live here any more and it will be accurised as best I can without doing irreparable damage. No drilling, no cutting, just a lot of q&a about how to milk more from it.

I bought an M38 from a friend who in turn got it on the open market several years ago and never fired it. In viewing and reading the work done with the Swedish Mauser stock I am reminded of the unsolved problem I have with the M38. Using cast bullets and a moderate charge of powder I repeatedly got grouping to the left of the black and often off the edge of the target. Moving the front sight as far as it can go to the left doesn't change anything. I had a gunsmith look at the rifle to see if the barrel is bent and it is not. I cannot imagine that the rifle passed through the Swedish military shooting like that. Is it possible that there is some lateral pressure is being exerted on the barrel by the stock and this is causing the point of impact to be shifted to the extreme left and it is exceeding the capacity of the rear sight. What are the steps that I have to follow to determine just what is going on here and what has to be done to correct the prob? It is wrong that a rifle of this capability has to be aimed at the right edge of the target with the front sight all the way to the left in order to get the poi into the black. Any help or suggestions/remedies would be most appreciated. J.Cooper

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jerome Cooper

Is it possible that there is some lateral pressure is being exerted on the barrel by the stock and this is causing the point of impact to be shifted to the extreme left and it is exceeding the capacity of the rear sight. What are the steps that I have to follow to determine just what is going on here and what has to be done to correct the prob?

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Assuming that your gunsmith took a proper look at the bareel, and it is straight and the crown is OK, then yes, the barrel is probaby binding in the channel somewhere.

xa-coupe had the same problem and it was covered in detail in the following thread: "Swede M38 Range Report" started by xa-coupe.

"I cannot imagine that the rifle passed through the Swedish military shooting like that." Of course it didn't. But that was a long time ago, and wood dries, shrinks and warps. To read some of the IMOH horrible things that some people do to their stocks, one can only conclude that they think wood is as unchanging as metal.

Read right through the thread mentioned above. I think it will answer your question. And when you have sorted out the binding, completely oil the stock with linseed oil, outside and inside !

Patrick
:wave: