Hello
Most of you that know me on the forum here, Know that all of my post's are primarily in the Handgun section and always about S&W handguns if you can't tell I am very Bias and strongly opinionated to S&W quality and their products of earlier manufacture having them from the early 1920s to about the Mid 1970s time span, and to me these were the best ones to come out of S&W, most of mine being in the Mid 1950s time span. I have had a S&W Branded Semi-auto shotgun that was made by Howa of Japan in my collection for a while now, so I decided it was time to land one of the very hard to find S&W Branded Husqvarna rifles to add to my collection and to sit beside my shotgun and recently came across and Un-Fired A-Model 1640 HVA action Husky rifle chambered in 30-06. These Husqvarna rifles were Imported to S&W back in the Late 1960's to Early 1970s time span. I think about 2000 is all that got shipped to them, so to find one is Indeed a challenge. Later on, S&W could no Longer get the Husqvarna rifles due to more stringent Import regulations, so they switched to the more Popular Howa of Japan rifles as the Husky replacements.


I Originally found a Full stocked Mannlicher Husqvarna S&W Branded rifle in 30-06 Caliber but during shipment it was destroyed by the Careless freight carrier UPS... A short time later I located the one shown to replace the destroyed rifle and hope to get it on the range soon to see how well it groups. These Husqvarna rifles show the Highest level of fit & Finish of any other rifles I have ever owned, even Sako's I have had in the past, are not quit as nicely finished as these and they Just don't make rifles that look this nice any more, with the Butt Ugly Black Plastic stocks and Bead Blasted bluing, to me the new generation rifles look horrible, and give the owner Zero level of pride in ownership of them. The action's on these Husky's are a scaled down Mauser 98 style and were very expensive to produce, but time proven and very strong and durable. The barrels on these rifles are all Cold Hammer forged for supreme consistent accuracy levels not obtained or seen with hot forged barrels placed on more modestly priced rifles. It would be interesting for me to know just how many S&W branded Husky's are out there owned by members here in the forum, so Let's see your "S&W Only" Branded Husqvarna's in this thread and Please tell us what caliber they are, how long you have had one and how well they Group...Thegeneral

After finding one in this mint condition I think you should immediately go out and buy yourself a lottery ticket! Your luck seems to be running hot right now.

Jim

I'm holding out for a Colt Sauer with Smith & Wesson on it......

Your gonna put your eye out with that thing...

First off I AGREE with Jim's post!

I picked up this Model C in .30-06 a few yrs back. Got it cheap due to a bbl bulge under the front sight.

Dang, now that is Blueing done Right! not too bad on the wood either. i'm with you, give me that over any of the mat finish crap out there anyday.

People actually like gloss, YUCK

Nice score there, I'd be proud to own that rifle as well!

SBHVA can speak to this topic better than I can, but, IIRC, S&W imported 5 different style of rifles built by Husqvarna, their Models A, B, C, D, & E. All 5 styles were built on both the HVA action, earlier imports, and the improved 8000/9000 action, later imports.

The A is the style that you have.
The B & C differ only by the style of the stock, the C having a classic style and the B having a monte carlo style.
The D & E are the mannlicher stocked versions and differ in the same way as the B & C.

Again, IIRC, the A was chambered in 222(?), 22-250, 243, 270, 7mm Rem Mag, 308, 30-06, and 300 Win Mag(?)
The B, C, D, & E were only chambered in 243, 270, 308, and 30-06.

I have been a S&W Husqvarna fan for around 25 years, particularly the Ds and Es built on the very smooth 8000/9000 style action.

I currently have 2 S&W As, like your rifle, chambered in 22-250 and 270.

I have a pair of rebarreled rifles build on S&W Cs in 256 Newton and 338-06.

I also have some of the mannlicher stocked Ds and Es built on both the HVA and 8000/9000 styles of actions. For my $$, the mannlicher stocked Husqvarnas are the best balanced mannlicher stocked rifles that you'll ever find. They seem to balance and fit perfectly. My "shooter" S&W Mannlicher is an HVA action E in 30-06 that sports an old B&L Balvar 2.5-8 with internal adjustment and a dot reticle in B&L mounts. Although this rifle is longer than most other factory production mannlicher stocked rifles, it is quick to point and handles like a good upland game shotgun.

Good luck with your S&W Husqvarnas!

Jeff

Hello
More Rare Yet, would be the S&W Model 125. These were made up of left over Husqvarna rifle parts that S&W had on hand to diminish their supplies. It is said that only a handfull exist, and they would be the Cream of the Crop as they had the newer improved 8000/9000 actions used in them...Thegeneral

I am not a collector, but I am interested in picking up a H-5000 for a hunting rifle, which is an iteration of the fine rifle that you have acquired. If I am successful in finding the right one, what is the closes after market stock inletting pattern for this series of the HVA action? CP.

Hello CP
Fishing around on the Internet, I did locate some aftermarket stocks for these small round Mauser actions check this out...Call them to be sure this stock will fit the action you are looking for...Thegeneral.




http://www.rifle-stocks.com/bargain_list.htm

JO must have mounted that scope.

Hello Jeff
it is hard to find out very much information on these Husqvarna's. From what I can understand they made the action change due to the 1640's costing so much to produce. I know the 8000/9000's have a fully adjustable trigger in them, will that trigger interchange into the 1640 actions ? I like everything about this rifle other than the fact that the trigger pull is kind of stiff. Is there any wany to modify this issue without a complete trigger replacement ? Can you cut the bolt spring to lessen it some ? Regards, thegeneral.

I have a stock off of a Smith and Wesson stock that I believe had a husqvarna action in it. I know a howa does not fit it. If anyone is interested, I'll make you a good deal on it.

I passed on a very clean '06 years back at my local shop, NICE Mannlicher stock and the slickest action, the action along made me want to buy it. One of those I passed and .....ponder

I like my Husky's to be stamped "Tradewinds".

Why do you prefer the Tradewinds branded Husqvarnas to S&W or FFV or ??

Jeff

The HVA action is easily my favorite action going, but I can't say that I love the 8000/9000 action. If I wanted a push feed I'd probably go Remington. As to stocks I know McMillan will inlet the Interarms and Sako Hunter with the CRF action, I can only assume that they probably due the 8000/9000 action as well. I'm sure anyone that does wood stocks could do it rather easily, it's not much different then a small ring mauser.

As to triggers a Timney for a 98 will mount right up, but you have to come up with a saftey. I like a Winchester Model 70 style, with my smith said was no harder to put on it then any other mauser.

The Husqvarna 8000/9000 action is the smoothest standard production action that I've ever found. The downside being that it was only made in a long action style and only with alloy bottom metal. I have 2 custom rifles build on these actions, a 256 Newton that was a 243 and a 338-06 that was a 30-06. At 1 time, I wanted to be able to hunt with just S&W branded products, so I bought the S&W handguns, rifles, and shotguns that I thought that I would need to accomplish that goal. Once I had them assembled, I shot them for awhile, got bored, and moved on to other things, but most of the firearms are still with me.

I have several mannlicher stocked Huskys and S&Ws with the HVA action and think that it is a good 1, but picking a CF action over a PF action has never been an important criteria in my decision process. Heck, the action that I have the most of, Savage 99s, are the actions that I shoot very infrequently, with Remington and Winchester CF and Marlin, Ruger, and Savage RF being the most frequently shot.

Jeff

Jeff, I thought that the 8000/9000 were made in a short action as well. I have several of the long action models and I agree with you about them being the smoothest actions ever made.

They are all long actions, at least all of the 243s and 308s that I've owned have been long actions with a shorter groove in the bottom of the bolt to limit the length of the bolt's travel.

My S&W C in 256 Newton was built on a 8000/9000 action that was originally a 243.

Jeff

Simple. That's what myself, my uncle, and my cousin all own. I might get my son a Tradewinds imported Husky this year too. It's what I know.

IIRC, Tradewinds had the import rights to the Huskys prior to S&W, so all Tradewinds 5000s would have been built on HVA actions. I don't have a Tradewinds Husky, but have had a couple of the Kricos that they imported after S&W got the Husky rights.

Jeff

Nice looking rifle. Yes the stock style tells what era it was produced. Its nice when you can find something that you reallly like.. Too often we settle for "it will work".

Hello SoTexasH
Thank's for your kind words. When I first started buying S&W revolver's, I grabbed what ever looked good and was available. As I got more serious about the collecting of them, I sold off the early ones I bought and replaced them with Pre-Models or ones made in 5 screw configuration meaning prior to 1956 time span. This lessens the frequency of finding them, and when you do they are all a lot more expensive from that time span due to condition and Supply & Demand as all mine have to be above 98% that enter into my collection. But all in all Condition and Rarity trumps with me....so many are passed on along the way... Thegeneral.

You are correct.

You have to be careful Jeff. Tradewinds owned the copyright to the phrase "Husky H-5000" and marked some of the Kricos this way.

All of the actions are the same length, but there are modifications to the magazine and follower for some of the shorter/smaller chamberings.

I have never seen any reference to this model before. Do you have any documentation on it?

Of the thousands of Husqvarna rifles imported by Tradewinds, only a small percentage are actually marked "Tradewinds".

Hello
I was told by an Retired S&W employee that they only made a handfull of these model 125's and he has one him self. That's all I know about them, I have no production figures but I assume they would be low due to the use of left over parts to make them up with...Thegeneral.

S&W B Model .308 Win, Husqvarna. Unfired
I still owe someone a pic of my unfired Brno 21H with my birth year, 52.

S&W Model C....270 Win.

Hi,
I just came across this site because I have one of these rifles and was Googling Smith and Wesson Husquvarna.

I purchase it used in 1969 or 1970 from a Gun Dealer who said an ATF agent and collector sold some of his collection. It is .300 Winchester and I have hunted with it for the past 40 years. It is a great rifle with an unusually smooth action.

It as the Blonde Monte Carlo Stock just like the pictures here on the site. also a rubber recoil pad and doesn't kick much at all. I had the barrel floated. it is very accurate and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Was wondering how many were made/imported and if it is relatively rare, and it's value.

The Photo shown of the rifle with the Walnut forepiece is just like the one I own. i can get it out and look for special marks or numbers if someone will tell me what to look for.

I am not aware of mechanisms, etc. or other information as I dont read up on my guns.
Thanks for any information.

Gnat

WOW 260Remguy A 1900 action chambered in 338-06. It just couldn't get any better.

The 338-06 and 256 Newton are, except for the serial numbers and character marks on the wood, an identical pair that I had made up to cover all of my North American hunting requirements.

I have a Iver Henriksen rifle built on a Husqvarna 1640 action. I had it for years. Sold it to DesertMuleDeer, he was kind enough to sell it back to me. It's a marked 25 Niedner.

Is the 25 Niedner the same as the SAAMI specs 25-06 Remington?

My Model B S&W Husky. The rifle is so light, handy, and accurate that I kept it around several years despite the stock. It is something called arctic birch over on the S&W Husqvarna Forum and was factory finished in a very hard, glossy finish of a color I could only describe as a monkey schmidt mustard yellow. It looked worse in person as it does in this picture:




After putting up with it as long as possible, I decided to strip it down and refinish it. I tried three different paint strippers and none of them even softened the finish. Finally a friend had a go at it and, after failing a couple of times, came up with a chemical concoction that, as he said, broke the finish loose and made it slide off almost in one piece! He then refinished the wood with the stuff the military used on M1 stocks. It ain't nice walnut, but it is so much better than the original finish that I can live with it. Finally had a buck show up while carrying it last season and it performed well.

I would love to know the chemical concoction used so that I might apply the same treatment to my model B, which looks similar to your first pic but, the finish has cracked in places and looks awful.

I'll see if I can find out for you.

Nice job on the refinish. It was truly hideous. Now, graceful.

Talus, I don't know that I can ever agree that a birch stock is graceful, but I guess if you only consider it's lines that would be true. It really is a nice, slim, lightweight hunting stock. And, the finish is so much more pleasant to look at now that I can live with it!

Joe, I just got off the phone with my bud's father, and here is the process he said they used to finally remove the factory finish. Now I didn't see them do it, so I can only relay what he said. After having no luck with paint removers like I did, they applied an automotive lacquer thinner called Shopline JT501. This is supposedly used when removing the clear coat during auto body repair. He described it as a 'virgin lacquer thinner' that breaks the surface tension of the hard finish. It caused that finish to wrinkle up and soften. Then they applied a citreous based gel paint stripper from Lowes that sloughed it all off the stock.

Good luck with your stock. Mine came out so well that the checkering was totally unmarred.

Thanks Hook, maybe mine will turn out as well as yours.

I just picked up a nice 9000 and it is marked Tradewinds. It’s intresting to know that not many guns were marked this way.