1900 M96 Swiss Mauser? and a M1908 Brazian Mauser

[yellowsled]

Ok, so I went to the Dulles show with my pops and a buddy. Full intentions to NOT buy anything. Well.. I failed... Miserably...

I think I did good. Got the M1908 for $260 from original asking price $300 and the M96 for $200 from original asking price of $280 ... Hope I did good?

I don't know anything about Swiss rifles so I hope you call can inform me what I have... I believe it is a dated 1900 M96, all the main parts match, from what I can see the 2 bands and the rear sight don't match, but everything else does incl the bolt. Whats that A/N on the top of the receiver?


2nd up is a M1908 Brazilian Mauser, Bolt bits match itself, but don't match the gun. Everything else matches incl the stock. "Star of David" on the stock.... What's that about? Dow do you date it?

And the M1908...

 

[MilsurpDan]

Looks like you did pretty good. The Swedish (not Swiss) M96 you got for a good price. They've been steadily climbing in value. Only issue is that the bolt has been bent which is Not original and would diminish value along with the mismatch parts but you should have a great shooter.

The Mauser Oberndorf made rifles are more sought after as opposed to the Carl Gustaf manufactured ones since they were only made for two years. The A/N stands for "am neckar" denoting that it is the German town of Oberndorf am neckar, where the Mauser factory was/is. The Neckar is a river that runs through the town.

Not sure about the M1908 since I don't collect South American rifles but the price seems pretty good considering other ones I've seen

 

[MilsurpDan]

Also, the disk on the Swedes stock will tell you the condition of the bore, one section denotes the diameter of the bore while the other denotes condition, a 1, 2 or 3. 1 being a like new bore with 3 being almost in need of replacement. I think that you will find the M96 to be one of if not the most accurate surplus rifle out there.

 

[yellowsled]

The disk...


Should I check under the but plate for a troop tag ?

 

[reverendbeer]

2nd up is a M1908 Brazilian Mauser, Bolt bits match itself, but don't match the gun. Everything else matches incl the stock. "Star of David" on the stock.... What's that about? Dow do you date it?

The internets tell me that that's the maker's mark for the German firm of Ludwig Loewe and Co., who started Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken.

Reportedly, the star mark was dropped after Loewe sold the company...which means your rifle was made sometime before 1929.

 

[MilsurpDan]

The disk...


Should I check under the but plate for a troop tag ?

Nah, no need to check for a troop tag, as far as my knowledge goes only the Swiss put troop tags under their schmidt-rubin buttplates. The Swedish weren't into that sort of thing but they did unit mark some items, I have an M96 bayonet that belonged to a coastal artillery unit.

I still check under the buttplate on all of my rifles though, never know what you might find, I've been unlucky as of yet but I'm just waiting for the right one

And after thinking about it some more, your M96 bolt may have been bent by a Swedish bubba. It doesn't look like it was a crappy job done over here recently. Some M96s belonged to Swedish shooting clubs or private owners who altered their rifles. Many of them had their bolts bent and they were drilled and tapped. Not sure if yours is one though, it could have been done by a U.S. bubba. Only M38 short rifle bolts were bent besides sniper, target and carbine models

 

[h2u]

This mirrors my own observations. Two nice rifles at decent prices.
Congrats on a good day at the gun show

Looks like you did pretty good. The Swedish (not Swiss) M96 you got for a good price. They've been steadily climbing in value. Only issue is that the bolt has been bent which is Not original and would diminish value along with the mismatch parts but you should have a great shooter.

The Mauser Oberndorf made rifles are more sought after as opposed to the Carl Gustaf manufactured ones since they were only made for two years. The A/N stands for "am neckar" denoting that it is the German town of Oberndorf am neckar, where the Mauser factory was/is. The Neckar is a river that runs through the town.

Not sure about the M1908 since I don't collect South American rifles but the price seems pretty good considering other ones I've seen

 

[DennisCA]

hickok45 has a decent video on the M96:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGFPbXqBPOA

 

[mawkie]

A good gunsmith just might be able to straighten that bent bolt if you want to put it back to correct configuration. M96s are probably the most accurate issued milsurp. I've got a couple M96s and a couple M38s and they're all tack drivers. Plus they're easy on the shoulder when shooting from the bench. You're gonna love this one at the range!

 

[yellowsled]

I might just have to take this one out. I prolly only fired about 5-10% of the guns I own.


I will also look into getting the bolt work. Any recommendations?