I just bought a Husqvarna Model 38 Swedish military rifle, that was made in 1941 for $250. I shot it with some Yugoslav made Century Arms 139gr ball ammo, and it shoot very well, even though the bullets didn't look to be seated very straight. How strong are these rifles compared to the F.N. and Oberndorf 98's made in the 1930's. I realize this is a 96 action, and does not have the third safety lug. Can this rifle be safely loaded to equal or slightly exceed the 260 Remington’s performance with 140 grain bullets?

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I realize this is a 96 action, and does not have the third safety lug. Can this rifle be safely loaded to equal or slightly exceed the 260 Remington’s performance with 140 grain bullets?

There's lots of opinions.....I will quote a statement from McFarland in his book Modern Gunsmithing.

"there are no strong mausers prior to the model 1898 mauser.

Years ago H. P. White Labratories did destructive testing on '96 mausers and tested them to 100,000 PSI It was in response to someone importing them in the 308 Winchester cartridge. Their report was positive!!!

Because of McFarlands comments I've never owned or worked on a pre-98 mauser.

I hope you get better reports from other posters.....but IMO the '96 mauser should not be loaded like one would with a Remington 700 action....or even a '98 Mauser action. I like to error on the side of caution.

While the M38 is built on the M96 design it does have some differences...

The "early" mauser that was being imported in 308Win was probably the rebarreled Spanish M93 and M95's.

the Swedes while similar in appearance to the M93-M95 Small ring, cock on closing, no third lug etc were technically (kinda sorta)
a transitional model between the '93 and the 98.

And the M38 produced by Husqvarna between 1938 and 1944 also have the benefit of more advanced metalurgy
and heat treating proceedures.

Though many people will go on about the "weakness"
of the "pre 98 action" I've seen enough of them
rebarreled to 30-06, 270Win and 25-06 to not be particularly worried about it.

Would I consider rebarreling one to one of those cartridges?
Probably not, but not because of any weakness of the action, but rather the short magazine length forces serious compromises in loading those longer cartridges

I've sent way too many 140gr flat bases downrange loaded over 46gr charges of IMR4350 to start worrying about it now.... and the rifle still closes "tight" on on the same Go-guage I bought before firing the rifle the first time.

AllanD

I think Colo Mike was askin about the standard 6.5x55 chambered swede compared to another modern 260 rifle. It performance good enough and beter for me compared to a 260

I have shot 48gr of R22 with 140 grain bullets in my 1943 husky.

Husqvarna chambered that reciever in commercial m46(same as am38) in 9.3x 57........well just look here: http://www.pettsons.net/m46.html

The old Kimber company sporterized M96's and sold them in the original 6.5x55 and also rebarreled for the .308, the .243 and I think the 7mm08.

A few other comapnies did it as well.

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Husqvarna chambered that reciever in commercial m46(same as am38) in 9.3x 57........well just look here: http://www.pettsons.net/m46.html

This is a very good read.....

They are as strong as any other two lug action.
The problem is how they handle a case head failure. There is no bolt shroud to protect your face. The mod 70 winchester, and the 03 Springfield have the same problem. You can load these actions until the primers pop out which is enough for anyone. If the case head does fail these small ring actions do not have much metal over the locking lugs and may fail there.
Good luck!

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Originally posted by Recoil Rob:
The old Kimber company sporterized M96's and sold them in the original 6.5x55 and also rebarreled for the .308, the .243 and I think the 7mm08.

A few other comapnies did it as well.

ditto

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Originally posted by jeffeosso:

quote:

Originally posted by Recoil Rob:
The old Kimber company sporterized M96's and sold them in the original 6.5x55 and also rebarreled for the .308, the .243 and I think the 7mm08.

A few other comapnies did it as well.

ditto

Yes, and most of these that came through the school had setback.

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Originally posted by z1r:

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:

quote:

Originally posted by Recoil Rob:
The old Kimber company sporterized M96's and sold them in the original 6.5x55 and also rebarreled for the .308, the .243 and I think the 7mm08.

A few other comapnies did it as well.

ditto

Yes, and most of these that came through the school had setback.

So far ALL of the Kimber-Swede's I've seen
(around a dozen) have been Carl Gustav M96 actions produced in the 1908-1922 year range.
These early actions seem to be somewhat softer than the later M38 Husqvarna actions.

AllanD

Just to clarify, YES, you can load the 6.5X55 as hot or hotter than the 260REM. IIRC, the 260 was developed to match the Swedish ballistics in a more 'modern' shorter cased and higher pressured round. The 260 has less room left to push to envelope higher than the Swede round, if you were willing to persue that road. I don't reccomend pushing the 96 action but some do and they can approach the 264WIN territory. Best-o-Luck

Thanks for the input, fellas.
Matt