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A guy has one for sale locally for $250 and I'm thinking about it.
What is the major differences between the models, and is one more sought after than the others?

Thanks,

P

You first.

All I got.

I see folks are not being very helpful to you on this subject, both here and in the Classifieds. Here's my take on this, based upon an abiding love affair with the Mauser action and especial the '96. Note, I am not an expert but I have several of these rifles and owned a few more.

First thing to realize is this isn't a '98 and hence you have a much smaller choice of aftermarket parts for it.

Secondly, decide what it is you want to do with the rifle; the 6.5x55 will kill just about anything on the planet with proper placement of the right bullet at reasonable distances but is very well suited to most every game animal in the US. Do you want to turn it into a full custom rifle or a good hunting rifle?

If the former, well, have at it! If the latter, here's what I have found in researching the subject at length.

1. Stocks are available from several vendors and most are priced inexpensively but you get what you pay for in terms of quality with the synthetics. If you want a cheap new stock with no frills, Midway has some for less than $100. For wood, Boyds direct or from Midway or Wood Plus at Brownells can help you.

2. If you want to scope the rifle, you'll need the bolt either bent or welded and the rifle drilled and tapped. You can choose to have the charger hump removed or not and I have no opinion on it either way. I'm away from my desktop right now where I have my favorites saved but there are some guys out there who will do the above for reasonable pricing.

3. Are you going to keep the original military barrel or not? If you decide to keep the military barrel, you might want to consider the barrel was throated for and intended to be used with the long military 140gr bullets and may or may not shoot well with other lengths or weights of bullets. If not, either Brownells or Midway can help with a short chambered new barrel for your rifle for under $100. Bear in mind most smiths recommend staying with 6.5x55 in the 96 action but I have spoken to a few who say they think its plenty strong enough for other calibers. My own thought is to stay with the original chambering. Also remember your rifle has a small ring and therefore needs a different barrel than most 98 Mausers.

4. The safety would ideally need to be changed over to a side swing or a short throw "Buehler" style or buy a trigger with a lever safety (a la Rem 700) incorporated in it. Brownells or Midway can help with all the above.

5. Following on from above, new triggers are available from Bold and Timney pretty inexpensively. Its your choice as to which you go with.

If you spend a little time hunting and searching, trading and begging, I think you can put together the rifle with new stock, barrel, bent bolt, scope mounts and trigger for about $500 over what you paid for it unless you can do some or all of the work yourself. Might be on the low side and I think $800 would be on the high side if you have to send it out, including shipping etc.

Based on that pricing, I personally wouldn't buy the rifle. Too much money to spend fixing up an old rifle when you can go out and buy any number of brand new rifles with good triggers that just need a decent scope on them to be ready for hunting. Sure, not many of them are in 6.5x55 but there are many in .270 or .30/06 or similarly great calibers. Your choice but I would pass. Hope this helped you.

I basically did everything Gman said, except I did it ,myself, but I cut the original barrel down to the 1st step and changed the bolt to cock on opening. If you cannot do the work yourself, you will spend more money that what you could be a modern rifle new for

The96 does not have gas shroud on the bolt, but if that bothers you, they can be had from Brownells

You can take advantage of that long throat by loading some 130 gr Nosler Accubonds which matches the faster twist( If you can find them).Mine won't shoot anything less than 140 gr ( Sierra Match Kings) very well. There should be a brass disc in the stock which gives the barrel condition. A little research will tell you what the numbers mean.

Mine was pristine It looks like it had never been fired and there wasn't even any scratch marks on the rails from the bolt being worked. I put a Leuplod 6x fixed power scope on it and it is my pronghorn rifle.

The 140 GR SGK I load to 2650fps with H4831, but the 130 gr Nosler AB's I load to 2800 fps with H4832.

I bought it when they were $69.

I wouldn't put $250 into anything as poorly sporterized and in such bad condition. From a practical POV, I think that you'd be miles ahead putting the $250 into a Marlin X gun, a Ruger American, or a Stevens 200. Maybe even a Savage Axis if they move you.

While I think that the Swedish SR military Mausers are the best of all the pre-1898 style military Mausers in every aspect, the cost to bring them "up to specs" with even the least expensive current production commercial bolt guns is prohibitive. I have several myself, but I've done most of the work, so my investment is less than most would have for equal upgrade work, but it would be easy to put between $200 and $400 into that rifle.

Whatever you do, good luck and watch out for those money pits!

Jeff

PS - Based on the stock configuration, that looks more like a sporterized 1894 carbine than an 1896 infantry rifle.

I had a few when they was 69 also.

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll pass on it.


P

Owned 3, sporterized 2, sold the last for 75, gave it away, many years ago.

Good shooters, but if you get an overload situation, they are not as safe a design as more modern actions. Good steel and smooth, but again, they are not as strong as modern actions. You can dump alot of money into one to sporterize.

I would not do one again, instead would find a Ruger in Swede, 260, or Creedmoor, or even a Weatherby Vanguard S2 in Creedmoor as I did - those all come in proper 8 twist handling any weight all the time. Tikka T3 is another if you can find one.

The 6.5x55 M94, M96, and M38 were outstanding rifles for what they were then, and in a great chambering.

Got a 1915 M96 for a lot more than $69 but it will still group shots - well, take a look.



From a completely unmodified military issue Model 96 that's 10 shots at 100 yards with open sights. I blew a couple, the trigger let off is only a few ounces more than the first stage take up weight and it surprises you sometimes. But those green and white bars are 1/2" wide, so that's 8 shots in right about or just under an inch with 7 of them well under an inch. That unmodified 98 year old military rifle will outshoot some modern scoped rifles.

Agree that the bubba'ed one pictured isn't worth the money but the M96 Swedes themselves are jewels of a manufacturing process long since gone by. Look at the brass stock disc, that will tell you about the bore condition and wear. Also beware of fake tags, some have been known to switch them.

If you want a nice sporter then as the posters before me have noted there are more convenient and probably cheaper options, especially if you want to scope it. But just restocking one with a Boyd's or something for cheap and replacing the open rear with a Mojo peep will get someone a very nice rifle that still kills stuff the way they used to.

Oh, btw, look for a M38 carbine, either 40's built or arsenal redone M96, they're a lot handier unless you like really long barrels.

On my list of fun projects to do is to pick up a swede already drilled and tapped and make up a pseudo retro sniper rifle with a reasonable scope, just for fun shooting. We had an unmodified Husqvarna M38 that was nicely accurate with milsurp ammo and the issued sights.

My first impression when I saw the original ad. Might be a $100 truck gun if it shot well.

Too bad bubba got to it. Unmucked originals are fetching decent coin these days.
A lot of these were sporterized years ago when they had them stacked in barrels at Woolworths for 20 bucks a pop.

yea, I spent a few years finding an unmolested M94. my first CF rifle was a bubba'd M94 and wanted an original.

To put it honestly: that rifle isn't worth the money. It is rusty, and as I suppose a former recruit rifle, re barreled at a military armory. Head space was often adjusted with a wrench, and sometimes the the barrels were so tight adjusted, that the receiver was deformed. If it is not a optical delusion in the picture, the receiver is slightly fatter in the front. Such guns should not be shot, as they can give up and burst.

There are still a lot of fine old Swedes out there and you can get a much better one for a much better price!

Pete