Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Husqvarna 146 9.3x57

I see that Simpson ltd has Husqvarna 146 bolt action Mauser FN 98's for sale approximately $300 give or take. These are chambered 9.3x57. That seems like a good deal, depending on condition of course. Would these 146's be a good candidate for rechambering to 9.3x62?

Yes!!

One of the best you can get!

Yeah what Northman said.

One of mine was! One of my fav rifles!

Here's mine. A 46 actually. I will be leaving mine as a 9.3x57. They are good candidates for the conversion.

They are damn fine handling rifles.

Sweet.

Is that a Simpson LTD import?

I like that the front claw mount base is soldered onto the barrel. Bases that are dovetailed directly into the front ring give me pause.

Mine was, now she is all grown up!

Carbon 12,

Yes it was a Simpson. I wanted one in 9.3x57 and when I saw the claw mounts I knew it was the one. I do have a scope for it with the correct hooks but one mount is not the correct height. I keep looking for a mount of the correct height but haven't stumbled onto one yet. The scope has a rail so I can fit a different height mount if the hooks are correct for the base.

It shoots well with 286 grain Norma RN bullets with open sights.

Cock on closing?

The Model 46 is a small ring and C on C.

The Model 146 was built on FN 98 Large Ring military style actions (C on Open with a thumb slot and stripper clip guides).
They were made as commercial actions for Husqvarna. They do have a relatively slender stock for a 98.

Put one in a McMillan stock, put a Ghost ring / peep sight.. and you have a close to indestructible rifle.

They seem like bargains to me. How have the ones from Simpson's shot for you all?

Also, what sorta loads are you running through them? Looks like H4895'ish sorta powder would be excellent.

Don't say bargain too loudly. The good ones already sell damn quick.

I've gotten two M146s in 9.3x57 from Simpson LTD. A rare M246 (same as a 146 but chambered in 9.3x62 at the factory) was sold minutes after it was first listed, but sadly, not to me.

IME, 9.3x57s are among the least fussy cartridges I've messed around with. Easy to find satisfactory loads. H4895ish powders like R15 and Varget have worked very well for me.

In my M146s, I have easily push the x57 to within 200 fps of modern X62 velocities with no signs of excess pressure. Ballistics of my X57 loads exceeds those of the early X62 ballistics which the x62 first made it's bones on in Africa. The incentive to rechamber any of my x57s to x62 has dimmed considerably. It should be noted that My M146s are built on early FN M98 'C' ring actions.

Gothca, that is great intel. Looking forward to doing a little work with it. Seem like real handy little rifles.

Also, what options are there for putting an aperture sight on them? I don't believe I'll scope one ever, but a nice peep might be about right.. What do you all run on them?

Although a peep would be grand, it may not be a trivial install on M46 and M146 Husqvarnas if you want to retain the factory sight ramp.

The issue is the front sight. The factory blade height is fairly low and likely to be too low for most Receiver sights. Factory replacement blades of different heights are not common. Be advised that the blade dovetail is cut parallel with the bore v.s. the more common orthogonal cut dovetail. I have not obtained any to confirm but NECG Masterpiece front sight blades may fit.

https://www.newenglandcustomgun.com/Gun_Services/Sights.asp?offset=30#TOP

My 46 has shown good promise with the few loads I've tested. I've only tried some 286 grain Norma RN and have some of the newer 286 Norma Oryx but have not done any load development with them yet. Both H4895 and RL15 have given good accuracy and easily pushed that bullet to 2200 fps with no signs of sticky extraction or hard bolt lift. I haven't done any head expansion measurements. I'm getting about 1.5 inches at 50 yards and about 3 inches at 100 with open sights with the 286 Normas.

It should be a simple matter to have one drilled and tapped for a Lyman 48 or 57. I am considering the same thing with mine.

From all accounts I've read, the 9.3x57 is a hammer. I carried mine some last year but didn't get a chance to take any game with it. Maybe this year.

There's a ton of conservative Data with American powders on LoadData.com
Also this Italian website:
http://www.grurifrasca.net/ Then click "ricarica" on the left side menu.

Next click "armi a canna lunga rigata" in the center list under Ricarica.

They'll get you started.
I'm using H4895 with Norma 232 Vulkans at 2435 fps according to my Chrony Beta.
The most accurate bullet I've used is the Nosler 250 AB, but Nosler advised me not to use them past 100 yards in the x57. The Tech said they're better for the x62.

Thanks fellas, I've got a ton of H4895 and RL15 and those look real good with the cartridge.

I guess I'll get it and shoot it before I monkey around too much with it. Might be fine as is.

It looks like a real handy rifle. Should I be concerned with bedding it before shooting it? Seems like a lot of them have tang splits like the 338/375 P64's.