New to Swedish Mausers and looking for info

I attended an estate auction yesterday with an interest in two pieces (an M1 Carbine and a Remington Rolling Block 50-70) neither of which I wanted to take home, but this Mauser was calling out to me.

All of the parts visible externally are stamped with the last 3 digits of the SN (103), with the exception of the bolt. The bolt handle is stamped 103, however the safety and cocking piece are stamped 574 - so at best it's not entirely original. What is the significance of HK prefix to the serial number?

At the muzzle end of the barrel there are some markings. The M96 6.5x55 Sweden is obvious, but I don't understand the first part of the stamping. Any help would be appreciated.

I also haven't correctly deciphered the information on the brass plate in the stock. If I read the notes correctly, the barrel on this is rated as a '3' -- pitted through out. I wasn't able to get a photo, but the barrel and rifling look great.

Is there anyway to learn something about the stock - and whether it's original or not? I haven't found any markings of any sort, but it may be that I just don't know where to look.

Do you have any books or references to recommend?

Usually they immediatly replace a rifle with a 3 stamped...but still should be a decent enough shooter.the HK is the inspector beeing Helge Kolthoff, you can easily look up that part.

Try on Göta Vapenhistoriska Sällskap.
You’ll find a lot of useful info.

Marking on barrel at muzzle end is importers stamp: Century Arms Inc. St. Albans, Virginia. Hence type and caliber marking as well.

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Originally Posted by boomer656

I also haven't correctly deciphered the information on the brass plate in the stock. If I read the notes correctly, the barrel on this is rated as a '3' -- pitted through out. I wasn't able to get a photo, but the barrel and rifling look great.

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Don't worry. A condition stamp applied the best part of a century ago has little relevance to the shootability of the rifle today.

Firstly, because the Swedish inspectors were hyper-picky, and Swedish "3" means that you need to use a borescope to see anything. Anything that an untrained user could see with the naked eye would have been dealt with by replacing the barrel. See Dana Jones, "Crown Jewels" p. 169.
Secondly, because in the time since these rifles were disposed of by the Swedish military, stock disks have gone missing, been replaced, and sometimes downright faked.

How about a close up of the stock disk in the stock? Wear patterns and scratches will reveal whether it could be the original disk or not.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick

Don't worry. A condition stamp applied the best part of a century ago has little relevance to the shootability of the rifle today.

Firstly, because the Swedish inspectors were hyper-picky, and Swedish "3" means that you need to use a borescope to see anything. Anything that an untrained user could see with the naked eye would have been dealt with by replacing the barrel. See Dana Jones, "Crown Jewels" p. 169.
Secondly, because in the time since these rifles were disposed of by the Swedish military, stock disks have gone missing, been replaced, and sometimes downright faked.

How about a close up of the stock disk in the stock? Wear patterns and scratches will reveal whether it could be the original disk or not.

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Thanks for the info. I wasn't too worried about the barrel itself, just the inconsistency between what I was seeing in the barrel and what I was reading. The thought that the disk was replaced at some point also seems to be a valid possibility. Is this what you had in mind for a closeup? There doesn't seem to be much wear on it, which also seems to be true of the rest of the rifle :)

Attachment 92544

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Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick

Marking on barrel at muzzle end is importers stamp: Century Arms Inc. St. Albans, Virginia. Hence type and caliber marking as well.

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Thanks for the info. After doing some internet searching, it seems that the VI in the stamp was, or should have been, VT (poor stamping?) for Vermont, which is where Century Arms was originally located.

The rifle is in such good condition that there are no tell-tale scratches or wear marks that I can see to indicate that the disk has been swapped.

And with the greatest respect Woody 99, Dana Jones says (P.169)that "3" was possible (why else have a 3 available on the disk", but worse than 3 meant barrel replacement.
As I already wrote, this is an academic point. Important is how the rifle shoots now!

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Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick

.... "3" was possible (why else have a 3 available on the disk, but worse than 3 meant barrel replacement.....

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Makes perfect sense.

The local weather is finally improving. I should be able to get it out to a short shooting area (max of 50 yards) I use on Friday, and hopefully to the range next week to give it a good test. I'm fairly certain I will find this rifle is capable of shooting far better than I am :).

I removed the stock to inspect both the wood the full barrel exterior (both in excellent condition) this past weekend. The stock is stamped with a matching serial number. I am very impressed by the condition of the 100+ year old wood in this rifle. What was originally used in finishing this wood?

On that Swedish site I posted earlier, they write about barrels: "The last sector gives information on the level of bore pitting. “1” means pitting in the groves. “2” means pitting in the groves and on the side of the lands. “3” means pitting in the whole bore (which means unserviceable). A rifle would never receive a “3”. It would instead be turned in to a work shop, where the old barrel would be exchanged for a new one."
It is still possible that such a rifle would shoot well, but I can well believe that Swedish military would not accept a ruined barrel.
I would expect the same to be true in Switzerland, though without the disc system.

---------- Post added at 06:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:26 PM ----------

Swedish rifles 1894 to 1960

This is the page

Thats why i said "usually" Patrick. I dont come across many 3 stamped rifles but to my honest opinion:either a 1,2 or 3 should be more then shootable.Swedish are extremely picky about judging their barrels. i think i d personally shoot equally good or bad with a 1 or a 3.to me the rifle will always be better then the shooter (in my case).