Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What can you tell me about Husqvarna HVA rifles?

I'm looking at a Husqvarna 3000 rifle that seems to be in good shape and a decent deal. It has the HVA action, 24" bbl, and MC stock. I realized that I know nothing about these rifles...what's their story?

I assume they are not overly collectible, but are good utilitarian rifles. Anything to be aware of or wary of when considering a purchase?

Some brands command a premium and some seem to never sell for what you'd expect. What about the Husqvarnas and their resale?

Thanks in advance

I own one and love it. Mine is the .30-06 featherlight which has a slim barrel and schnable forend. Basically very similar to a Win 70 featherweight. It shoots well, with most brands and weights going slightly over an inch at 100 yards for three shots over bags. I may be just lucky, buy mine shoots 150's, 165's, and 180's to the same place, but it doesn't like the 165's as much as the others. It is smooth and slick enough that I am always looking at the used racks for another one, which I would snap up for the right price.

They have some of the strongest steel ever used in rifle building. The Reborer wouldn't do my Husky .30-06 for that reason. He said the steel is too hard and therefore doesn't cut nice. Oddly enough Husky twisted its .30-06 barrels 1-12" so theyre a little slow for bullet weights over 180. They're very durable but built on the small ring Mauser action and not the large ring 98. They're mostly CRF but the later models made in the 70's are push feed. The quality is excellent but the wood is normally average and they love to crack out at the tang. They usually don't command a lot of money unless they're either Imperial grade or in .358 Norma mag.

And from the Huskies I've worked with I've found you can usually get them down around 1 1/2" @100 yards. They're no sub moa rifle. The front sights are silver soldered on and I had one auto eject of the barrel on a Husky 8X57 I was firing. Some JB Weld brought them back together. The triggers are normal Mauser, they need some work.

Thanks K1500....that's helpful. So you must have the 4100 or 4000 lightweight with a 20.5" bbl. What is 'the right price' that would cause you snap it up off the used rack?

Is this a bad thing?

Looked hard at a S&W Model A Husqy? TOD. it was 308, and seemed well built. Wondered if it'd rebore to 358 or not. Guess not? Jeweled bolt and nice blue.

Its fine for what it is. You're limited in what you can build on it.

I had a 4000 Lightweight. $600 and under is a good price.

They are very good rifles. I am not sure exactly what ones you guys have because those model numbers are only used in America, but the 1640 or 1600 series rifles are excellent small ring Mauser actions.

The one I had in .30/06 would shoot into an inch with every single load I gave it. I even started loading .30/30 bullets with weird powders to try and get it to shoot badly and I still failed. A friend has about eight or nine of them.
They all have shot very well indeed.

Very well made rifles. Would take a used one of these in a heartbeat over the modern cheap end rifles like the Ruger American, Zastava, or Tikka this or that and so on.

(Some early Husqvarna's were built on FN made normal Mauser 98 actions (640 model) These are of course not small ring. EAsy way to pick them is they have the standard Mauser flag safety/bolt shroud.)

Downside to them is that the triggers can be average. But timney did make triggers for them if you can find one, or you can have a job done on them. I swapped through Mauser triggers until I got one I liked.
Also, often the stock are either beech and better for open sights, or the later ones may be chunky '70's with white lone spacers. But they do fit into a standard 98 stock, (just with a little more space around the chamber end of the receiver.)



Used to use this one with a peep sight as well as a scope. I don't own it anymore because I sold it to buy something shinier and now utterly forgotten, and now I wish I had it back.

That looks like nice wood. No checkering...I'm guessing an early one?

Yeah, mid sixties I suppose, it has the beech stock with checkering only on the pistol grip.
Most of our Huskies are imported second hand from Swedish gunshops, sort of like Tradeex in Canada, and these models are common.

The more I look at the HVAs, the more I think the one I am looking at is not in the original stock.

My Tradewinds Husky shoots 200 Gr Nosler Partitions well and 220 Gr roundnose Hornady's exceptionally well with the 1 in 12" twist. The only modifications to the rifle was to cut the buttstock more at right angles to the bore, add a pad, glass bed the lug area and a trigger job. Straightening the butt angle keeps it from recoiling upward under my cheekbone.

As far as price I suppose it would depend in configuration, condition, caliber, etc. If I found a twin of mine, I would sure have a hard time walking away from it if it was priced at $600 or less. I don't even need another one, but I like mine that much. I would go higher if it was in nice shape and in a configuration I wanted. I would 're-buy' my rifle for $800 if it was lost.

Two things I am always looking for are pre 64 model 94's and husky rifles. Everyone understands the pre 64 thing. With husky rifles I just feel thy represent a great value. They haven't really been discovered by collectors yet.

Husqvarna rifles are as common as dirt here in Sweden (as you'd expect). I could not guess how many I've shot at the range but it would be dozens, and I'll bet I've examined 4 dozen more.

They are great rifles overall, but as noted above, their stocks (if original) have a tendency to crack at the tang.

This is easy to fix -- just glass bed the action, and make sure that there is a little gap behind the tang (I use 3 layers of masking tape before coating with release agent and doing the epoxy).

John

Setch - you're right. It's not a factory stock. Get 'em to work with you on price, drop it in a Husqvarna stock or a light synthetic and rock and roll. They're excellent rifles. I've had several. The actions are strong, smooth and reliable. Light years better than the 700 actions we get all excited about building on. I just bought another one here on the Campfire that's been set up as a 7x57.

They work good!

Sactoller, what's it chambered in?

John;
Good afternoon to you sir - I checked the time in your part of the world.... . Hopefully your Saturday was a good one.

The OP has received a lot of good information so far from the replies and you and Carlsenhighway covered the bases very well.

I've personally repaired 4 to 6 early Husqvarna stocks made from beech that cracked at the tang, but then I could also mention the Savage 99's that had walnut stocks and cracked too.

Either or for that matter any stock that still has most of the remaining parts and isn't completely drenched in gun oil can be repaired easily and permanently with a good slow curing two part epoxy. My current favorite has been a product called G2 which has the consistency of honey and a couple day cure - so it really gets into the pores of the wood and bonds better than some thicker paste epoxies.

While I'm certainly no metallurgist and can't comment on the strength of the steel used by Husqvarna, I will say that in my opinion the machining and overall finish of the metal work on the Swedish built actions doesn't take a back seat to any other bolt rifle.

Anyway again John that's just one Canuck's opinion on it, nothing more and most definitely only worth what it cost the reader, eh?

All the best to you for the remainder of the weekend my cyber friend.

Dwayne

Hi Dwayne,

Yep, 9 hours time difference between Sweden and BC. Makes me always double check the local time before I call friends or family back in Canada!

I don't know how much I blame the beech wood for the splitting at the tang and how much the inletting is to blame. I've seen some Husqvarna's that had ZERO clearance at the tang and that will split any stock if the rifle has some recoil. Likely both factors contribute.

I agree with your statements about a stock -- as long as all the bits are there, slow curing epoxy is the stuff. I have even built up large missing pieces of stock wood, shaping the epoxy with a file before sanding and finishing.

I have had good luck in cleaning up even VERY oil-soaked stocks with acetone -- but that was years ago when I could take the stock in to a lab at the university and work inside a high-flow fume hood on the weekend.

Over the years, I have seen three flash fires in student teaching labs using acetone to do final glassware cleaning, and today I'd never use acetone outside of a proper fume hood! I didn't cause any of those 3 fires, but on one of them I did loose most of the hair from one arm when I dropped a fire blanket over the sink with all the flames. That got me a round of applause from the students at least...

I hope the rest of your weekend goes well. It is bloody hot here! Well, extremely hot for a place so close to the Arctic Circle anyway- - it hit 29C (84F) one day!

John

As covered before: That is a great rifle.

The HVA 3000 is a commercial small ring 98 called the 1640. It was produced 1953-67. More parts are shared with the LR 98 than the SM 96, to include the trigger. They were Sweden's version of a beefed up 96, taking the best attributes and communality of the LR 98 and making it their own. The action alone is worth $300-$400. They are lightweight and bomb proof.

That is not the original stock or sights. So someone has gone through it. It might have a decent trigger and be bedded. In which case the work is done. Enjoy it.

I own two 1640's currently. Both are platforms for customs. One in 6.5x55 and the other probably in 9.3x62.

Not sure of the models Per say but the one I have (HVA) is probbly the best Mauser design . Mine is small ring and will work well for a light weight build.
As for steel being too hard....hog wash.......the are good quality steel but definatly not un machinable. Ever heard of carbide tooling.. I have built a few customs on the HVA s they are one of my favorite actions..

Sorry I missed the rebore part ... I would agree with that.

I have a JC Higgins 51-L in 308 that was built on the HVA action by High Standard. Don't know if the barrel was Husky or High Standard but it easily beats MOA with several loads. Very light weight stock was broken through the web between the lug and magazine mortise when I traded for it but the fix was fairly easy.
Been thinking about getting another to build a light 7X57, surely Momma doesn't want life too comfortable during our upcoming retirement.

I have two HVA Imperials a .270 and a 7mm rem mag, they are marvelous rifles. My late father bought them in the 1970s. They are both sub moa rifles. I have no idea how many mule deer, whitetails and elk these rifles have killed and that doesn't count the bobcats and coyotes. I unscrewed the .270 barrel and replaced it with a Shilen 9.3X62 and took it to Africa. When I returned I screwed the .270 barrel back in. I've since bought a HVA 1640 30 06 and have screwed the 9.3 barrel in it. I had a nice piece of claro in my shop and am building that into a stock with a more "classic look".

.30-06

If you find one at a decent price in good condition, buy it. The same goes for any of the Mauser sporters of that era.

Believe me, when you shuffle off this mortal coil, your heirs ain't gonna be fighting over your Axis, American, or even (sob!) your T3, despite their practical virtues, if there's something nice in forged steel and walnut in the rack.

Having figured out the stock and barrel were replaced, I set aside the idea of picking it up. It's in '06, which I don't need. So aside from collecting another action that can be for a project...I figured I'd move on. But the price is tempting on it, right in the neighborhood of what you mention.

As someone said, lots of good information and certainly covering the bases on the husqvarna. This has been helpful.

Husqvarna built 270 Win, 7mm Rem Mag, and 358 Norma Magnum on the same action. Ask me how I know. All of these are loaded to very high pressure in factory ammunition.

I also have them in 9.3X62, 30-06, and 7X57.

The Husqvarna 1640 small ring action is as strong as the large ring '98. The left locking lug is actually stronger than a 98 lug, as it is not split for the ejector. The ejector is positioned beneath the lug raceway, consequently that left lug is solid.

The 1600 series action is not to be confused with the small ring 94 and 96 Mauser actions.

Ted

The guy that taught me to hunt has some where in the neighborhood of 100 rifles give or take. He ahs hunted all over the country. He carries a 7 RM Husky that is as pitted as anything I have seen and looks like it has been drug behind a pickup for miles. When he goes on a trip or even around the house he carries it. I don't even bother to ask him what he is carrying anymore. He still buys other hunting rifles but doesn't ever hunt with them.

He as been collecting since the late 70's and has more rare bolt actions than I have ever seen.

What peep sight is that?

The husky Imperial Mausers look pretty nice. Found one in 270. Thinking about buying it.