I'll be looking at one tomorrow... Not sure if it's a m96 or m38. I've heard they're very accurate. Anyone have any ideas on ammo availability?
Well made, accurate rifles. M96 is the longer barrel, M38 is the short barrel. Ammo is available at most gunshows and the higher-priced stuff is available at most sporting goods stores.
Thanks for the replies -- I found a little more information on my CDs from surplusrifles.com that I quickly read. To me, they're a thing of beauty... I got to see 5 of them yesterday, all M96s. Two had been "Sporterized" with various evil things done to the barrel, not to mention the stock being replaced with some "Monte Carlo" synthetics. The one I hope to get was made in 1913 and still had the cleaning rod. For something almost 100 years old, the barrel looked great. The stock appeared to be the original beech wood, rather than walnut. The rear iron sights start at 300 yards (meters?) and go out the 800 (?). With a 29-inch barrel, it must be able to do some serious long-distance communication. I'll post some pictures this weekend if possible. I might even try to chart out the ballistics of a standard load...
There are certainly a lot of people with Swedish Mausers. Everyone I've talked to just loves them. One guy at work has had about 5 of them over the years -- he said they used to be $50 in the early '80s. Found a lot of vendors for ammo, but will get a couple friends to go in together for a few hundred rounds. There's a gun show coming up in Reno, but it starts on the 17th of August -- a long wait. Here are some pictures:
They sure are pretty! I have a M96, and a M38. I couldn't bear to even think of trying to modify, or "sporterize" these works of art. They're also a lot of fun to shoot!
