Swedish m96 teach me

Brickman301 · Jan 17, 2018

Ok, I saw a M96 rifle today, I might be interested in but I don’t know anything about these rifles.

What I do know is all numbers match, the bluing looks good, it’s dated Carl 1918, and it has a threaded barrel. The stock looks good and has a disc in the stock. The stock is a very light blonde wood. The bore is dark but the rifling looks strong.

My questions are what are they selling for? Is there any special markings to look for? How’s ammo availability? Is the blonde stock normal, it looks like it almost been refinished? I’m out of my element with these things. Thanks for the help.

Brickman301 · Jan 18, 2018

Ok, so I’ve done a little research myself. I now know a little bit about these rifles, and what to look for.
What I don’t know is what’s the going prices on them, these days? I’ve seen some for sale, but not what they have sold for. Asking prices are all over the place.
Any help on prices would be great

mawkie · Jan 18, 2018

I'm a little rusty on C96 prices but would expect matching examples in VG to Exec condition to run in the $350-450 range. Being all matching is a big plus for collectors. Dark bore will pull price down a bit as there are no shortages of C96s with bright bores for shooters.
Stocks were produced from walnut and beech. A beech stock will be blond in color. Look for sharp edges and crisp inspection marks in the furniture. Rounded edges is a sure sign of refinishing. Most C96s I run across are sporting an original finish as they led good, pampered lives. Odd to see one with a dark bore as I thought the Swedes always used non-corrosive ammo (might be wrong here, working off a 60 yr old memory bank).

Brickman301 · Jan 18, 2018

Thanks for the help. I saw last night that some were in beech wood stocks, so that might be the reason it’s light colored. I will definitely look to see if it was sanded or not. I’ll look for markings on the stock, and see how the wood to metal fit. From what I’ve read you’re correct they didn’t use corrosive ammo. Maybe the bore just needs a good cleaning?

Thanks for giving me an around about price, I know it’s hard without seeing the rifle, but at least I have an idea.

If I end up purchasing it, I’ll post pictures.

ken792 · Jan 18, 2018

They seem to go anywhere from $400-600 now.

You can still get new made 6.5x55, and it's an easy cartridge to load. You can buy cosmetic blemished bullets at Shooter's Pro Shop too for pretty cheap.

Blonde stocks are normal. They used different types of wood and even the same type of wood can come in different colors. You commonly find beech, but walnut turns up too.

Melnic · Jan 18, 2018

I forgot how many parts actually are stamped to match all the serial numbers (10+?)
decode the little button on the stock, that is not the current bore condition, but the last bore condition when it was last serviced.
Threaded barrels were to install something that shredded wooden ammo I recall. I got REAL lucky and and got mine for Sub $400 a year or so ago. Have not seen too many sub $400. Condition is everything. How many parts match add to the cost. I think you have to do some break down of the bolt to tell also.

ken792 · Jan 18, 2018

Cleaning rods rarely, if ever, match on import marked ones. They were removed to import mark the barrel and then not put back on their proper guns.

Threeband · Jan 18, 2018

Earlier cleaning rods weren't numbered.
My all matching 1902 CG has an unnumbered rod. Looks virtually brand new, too.

Melnic · Jan 18, 2018

Info on where serial numbers are:
https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=150199&page=5

When I got mine:
https://www.mdshooters.com/showpost.php?p=4210406&postcount=2548

mbryanty · Jan 18, 2018

I paid $400 for mine ~4 years ago. Only half of the numbers match, but the stock, bore, bluing, and screw heads were in impeccable shape. If you do purchase it, they make birdcage flash hiders for M96 Swedes. You can buy them online for pretty cheap to protect the threads.

Sidenote: M96's tend to shoot high. Personally, mine prints ~2 feet above my point of aim. But once I figured out where to hold on the target (crotch of the silhouette), I was getting good groups at 100 yards right at center mass using 139 grain Prvi 6.5.

iH8DemLibz · Jan 18, 2018

mbryanty said:
I paid $400 for mine ~4 years ago. Only half of the numbers match, but the stock, bore, bluing, and screw heads were in impeccable shape. If you do purchase it, they make birdcage flash hiders for M96 Swedes. You can buy them online for pretty cheap to protect the threads.

Sidenote: M96's tend to shoot high. Personally, mine prints ~2 feet above my point of aim. But once I figured out where to hold on the target (crotch of the silhouette), I was getting good groups at 100 yards right at center mass using 139 grain Prvi 6.5.

I believe those were designed to shred wooden bullets.

ken792 · Jan 18, 2018

iH8DemLibz said:
I believe those were designed to shred wooden bullets.

The flash hiders are aftermarket. The blank firing adapters are designed to shred the wooden blanks.

Threeband · Jan 18, 2018

Mine has an unthreaded barrel, so alas I'll just have to manage without a birdcage flash hider, somehow.

Mine has a higher replacement front sight, and shoots well at 100 yards. I've only shot it a few times over the years, though.

That 6.5mm is a very pleasant round to shoot.

iH8DemLibz · Jan 18, 2018

ken792 said:
The flash hiders are aftermarket. The blank firing adapters are designed to shred the wooden blanks.

Tacticooling the Swedish M96 is a bridge too far.

CombatAK · Jan 18, 2018

Here is a pic of a M96 and an M48. The 96 is an Oberndorf from 1900 and the 48 is a Husqvarna if I am not mistaken. Both are awesome rifles. :thumbsup:

Brickman301 · Jan 18, 2018

Ok, well I picked up the rifle a few minutes ago. Here’s a picture of the disc, maybe you guys can help me with it, and one of the crest.

Brickman301 · Jan 18, 2018

It doesn’t have matching numbers, like I thought. The barrel, stock, sight, butt plate, and floor plate all match. The bolt does not. The barrel bands and cleaning rod are all different also. Oh well, I think I still got a good deal. The good news is the bore looks great, when I put a light in it. It doesn’t have any markings on the stock, but doesn’t look sanded. The wood to metal fit looks great.

Threeband · Jan 18, 2018

Here's a crappy cell phone picture of mine.

mawkie · Jan 19, 2018

Looks nice! They're awesome shooters. I dealt with mine shooting high by removing and packing away the original rear sight and installing a SM sikte ASJ ram. It registers spot on for elevation at 100m. Here's a neat site with examples of C96 sights. I've got M/38 sights on my two M/41s. They work well too.

Abulg1972 · Jan 19, 2018

3 years ago, you could find a nice M1896 in the $300-$350 range almost at every auction. Lately, I haven't seen a nice one go for less than $450 online at least. Swedish Mausers seem to be hot among collectors right now. There are enough out there that it might be better to spend the extra $100 to get once that isn't a parts gun.

Here's a lot of information about them: http://dutchman.rebooty.com/

Swedish m96 teach me

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