Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Stalking Rifles ?

Very interesting and strange, Lee! The action can`t be a Swedish 1896, obviously, if the rifle was made in 1893. What action and caliber is it? And notably, it has a hinged floorplate!
I have an Original Sporting DWM Rifle. 1893 action and 7x57. N� 5xx. I know only 1000 were made. I will post some pictures of this one.
Thanks,

PH

This rifle had been in the original Swedish family since 1893 until I bought it a few years ago. It is in 6.5x55 Swede, with a 25-inch barrel, and schnabel forend. The story they told was that it needed rebluing and the grandson, then in his 50s, went ahead and replaced the worn front sight, added the aperture sight and the hinged floorplate.

I sent the SN to a German expert on Mausers. He said it was one of 75 original 6.5x55 SEs built for the King of Sweden, some sporting, some military, on the 1893 action. The King passed them out to his military officers and hunting companions. They liked them, and the rest is history. Sweden ordered the first batch of rifles, which were built on 1894 actions in Germany, from Swedish steel. The next batch were the 1896, built in the new Mauser factory in Sweden.

I hope this rifle has all that history behind it, but it sure feels like it, sort of like the feeling I get when I unsheath a sword from the Civil War, or Samurai era. It shoots very well, too, with standard 140-gr ammunition at 2,550 FPS.

If I didn't have to work, I could spend a year buying up old DWM, Oberndorf, and Austrian sporting rifles and restoring them.

Well, Lee24, thank you for a good laugh. I thought you were selling us a member of the Swedish Royals as a gun tinkerer, that of all rifles grabbed a Mauser and updated with, of all thing, a Lyman sight.

But then I reread and realized, the "original swedish family" that owned the arm since 1893 and sold it to you a few years ago must have been the family of one of the officers and hunting companions of Gustav V. that had received the arm as one of 75 custom made ... yada yadah...

Bunch of loonies, past and present.

Lee,

Here are pictures of my Oldest Stalking Rifle. Look at the Proof Marks, not present in the military rifles of the same period. And under the chamber it is marked the rifling twist in mm : 222,5 (around 8,7 inches). When I measured the RT it was exactly 1 turn in 222,5 mm!! It was bought by my Greatgrandfader as I told. I pressume it was bought in Argentina around the turn of the XIX century or in the firt years of the XX century. At that golden time in our country, there were big and well stocked gunshops.
This rifle is still in their original rust blue. The bore is rather dark but with strong rifling. It shoots very acceptable with good handloads. Around 1,5 " at 100 meters. It has a long throat and needs 2 grains of powder more than my other Mauser for the same velocity.
This DWM Original Sporting rifles are extremely well done. At least equal or better than most of the famous sporting rifles.
I like and enjoy the history of your old rifle !
PH

Once again, Liar24 proves his level of dumbphuckitude is unmatched.

Looks like Lee really does know how to post a picture.

Post that Winchester Lee, come on.

Have posted this before, but here's a couple of Husqvarnas in 7X57:



They make great stalking rifles!

Ted

PatagoniaHunter, I really like your rifles! I was looking at your stock pics and thought that was an excellent conversion on a military stock with exceptional grain. Did you do it yourself?

Hi Joe,

No, it wasn`t me! The work was done by a young and very talented gunsmith at Buenos Aires. It is perhaps the best compleat gunsmith, wood and metal, now in Argentina. The metal bedding job is truly outstanding! You can dismount and mount the barreled action without ANY loss of the zero! And his care of all the details, is amazing. He also made the bases for the Kimber tipe detachable mount.
Regards,

PH

cmg, I can't tell what it is you are challenging, but I don't think you know, either, so there is no point going any further with you on what is some toxic mixture of Mauser ignorance and envy.

Here is another good example of an English stalking rifle, in .318 Westley Richards (8x57mm). This one is a take-down model.

While we're at it, how about an Westley Richards .275 (7x57)...

Now THAT one makes me squirm in my seat.....!
Ingwe

Patagonia,
I think it the lines of a rifle such as your DWM are still modern looking today. These early sporters were way ahead of what was being used in the 1890s and later. They are breakthroughs that are timeless. You rifle has the overall lines of a 1903 Mannlicher, another timeless design which held up into the 1950s.

Lee24,

You just ended the discusssion. Those two are stalking rifles by definition. Everything elese here is a rifel that you can use in talking in a pinch but....

1B

Did you guys see the pics of Sakorick's 35 Whelen on a 1903A3 Springfield action? He posted them on the custom rifles/wildcats forum, but here is one of them:

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/member_images/13138-35a.JPG

I thought that one was one sweet stalking rifle, so I went to my local store where they had one that was very similar and laid her away...

I've always wanted a reciever-sighted 30'06 and now I'll have one!

Stalking rifles? Here are some of the rifles i can use for stalking, i mean going closer and closer to the hunted game, to over smart him. Even if i practice long distance target training (to 6/800m) shooting is not hunting, hunt is not war and here legal maximun shooting distance at game is 300m (330yards). I always try to get closer.
A Merkel K1 in 7x65R i use it for all type of hunt even "battue"...scope is S&B fixed 4
Old Steyr in 7x64, she wear a new S&B 1,5-6x42, precise, reliable, smooth feeding nothing bad to say.
Another Steyr an Ultralight model based on SBS96 Scout receiver, cal 7-08, scope is Kahles 2-7x36, here with a roe deer shot after some hours of stalk in brushy and noisy vegetation.
Stalking rifles, generally, wear low power scopes or variables cause the shot is mostly taken off hand, in various positions and can be real fast when the game spook you.

Thanks for the great pics...always nice to see whats going on in other hunting venues...
Also, I kinda like the idea of maximum legal shooting distance...( that ought to fire up a bunch of guys watching this thread...)
Thanx again..
Ingwe

Marseille-
Very nice rifles and excellent photos.

Was the moose/elk from Sweden?
--Bob

1B & ingwe-

About the two images that Lee24 posted images on 29 May:
These two are listed for sale on Westley Richards' web site. Both are in the used guns section.

The .318 WR take-down rifle (LINK here) you can have for only $10,500. Shipping and handling may be extra. It comes with a nice case. The barrel is 28" long, and the rifle weighs 8-3/4 lbs without a scope, which seems to me a bit heavy for an ideal stalking rifle.

The .275 Rigby rifle (LINK here) is a gorgeous piece, as well it should be for $35K. If you pick up the phone tomorrow morning and ask for it with express shipping, you probably could have it in your hands a day later. Again, as a stalking rifle this one is a bit heavy at a couple ounces less than 9 lbs. However, since your gillie or gamekeeper will be toting it up the hill for you, this might not be a problem.

On the WR web site, close-up views of both rifles are available. The engraving on the .275 is worth looking at closely.

--Bob

Thanks Bob...but doggone it all, my wife is real understanding, but she will only let me buy one $35K rifle per week, and I've used up my budget this week..
Figured thats about what those would go for....saw a beautiful utility grade Rigby .350 not long ago, plain but exquisite and it was around the 10K mark.
For all the grief I give freinds from the UK, I sure like how some of them build rifles!
Ingwe