I own numerous Swedish Mausers in different setups and they are all shooting extremely well, so no surprises here. Fantastic rifle and because of mild 6.5 recoil, extremely enjoyable and fun to shoot. Gret video guys!
The high nickel content of the iron ore found in Sweden is the reason they required Mauser to use their steel to build their rifles. It makes them very resistant to corrosion, which is why you still see so many nice ones today.
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Cool to see more people discovering the amazing 6.5x55 cartridge 🥳
@@nachos_70firebird66 that's still a deal, these rifles would easily cost over $4000 today if produced in a modern firearms factory -- they are pro-grade target rifles.
In Austrian surplus rifle matches the first 10 places are mostly taken up by people shooting an M96. The first four places often have 100 out of 100 points and are only determined by group size or who hit the inner ten the most. Considering that the 10 ring is 5cm (about 2 inches) in diameter that's just very impressive from both the shooters and rifles.
@@dmytro732 I don't think that there are many people using them because they are rare over here which means that they aren't that established in competition. Their prices are above your average M96 in perfect condition and I personally think that many of the shooters do so well is because of the low recoil which isn't that hard on your concentration throughout the match. Another type of rifles that are commonly doing extremely well are Mauser rifles in 7x57. The Swiss straight pull rifles can also do well at times but they aren't as popular as the Swedes or 7x57 Mausers from what I've seen myself.
As a Finn, all I can say is that my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. Those Gladstone Ganders always do this to us. At least the ammo was Finnish. More seriously, nothing but respect for the Swedes. Perhaps a little bit of jealousy, the same way a little brother is jealous of their older brother. Great rifle, and a great culture of marksmanship.
If it’s any consolation (or insult to injury), Swedish volunteers with these rifles did help y’all out in the Winter War, so it has some Finnish history
@@sirboomsalot4902 Like I said, nothing but respect for the Swedes. The Finnish-Swedish rivalry is just something that makes losing in a friendly competition taste bitter to us, but when the chips are down the Swedes are our closest allies. Sorry for not buying Gripens, but the deal on F35s was too good to pass up. As for the rifles, the M39 is a rifle made from modernizing surplus rifles of dubious origins. It's a testament to taking something cheap and trying to squeeze the absolute most out of it. The M/96 by contrast is a rifle made from the best quality materials, with the best available production and assembly lines, shooting a far more accurate cartridge and it was designed for marksmanship/performance over cost. It is by far the better rifle. Nobody can doubt that. Ukko-pekka and Pystykorva still have a lot of heart though.
not a vapor trail, but rather an optical illusion similar to "heat haze" you see from say a jet exhaust, or a hot highway, the hot air refracts the light waves and causes distortion, or a moving sort of hazy appearance.
@@SonsOfLorgar Or the m/36 in double mount, my brother entered the military about 1973, then was the 6.5x55 going out, so when the training on the m/36 they used the 6.6x55 as many they wanted to shoot, the m/36 had barrels for an Bofors 8x63mm with an extra heavy projectile to reach out mostly for AA, but there was taught that they was able to shoot indirect fire, they rebarreld the m/96 to the same caliber for logistics, I do not remember what is was called, I think they later on made barrels for 7.62x51 for the m/36.
Some of the best manufacturing using some of the best steel that was ever available. That combined with an amazing cartridge in the 6.5x55 gives you a stupid accurate milsurp rifle that has an amazing resume in numerous competitions.
@Other Barry mine doesn’t have a threaded barrel. The only part that doesn’t match are the sights, that’s typical for those rifles. As the video stated, ammunition was changed.
My first surplus military rifle was a Swedish M38. I bought a M96 a year after that. A few years beyond I finally acquired a AG42B. Outstanding rifles all!
It's funny you mentioned people emailing you about lending one, I actually sent you guys an email about 2 years ago at this point about the same thing. I'm glad you finally got around to it, and it's cool to see you enjoying the rifle.
@@9HoleReviews No problem man, I just sent it on a whim, since you were doing a bunch of other surplus rifles at the time. I think this series on Swedish rifles turned out pretty well, so it was worth the wait.
In the early 80s my dad bought one of these with a dark, dinged up stock for $40. When I was a kid I thought it was a piece of junk because it was by far the homeliest rifle in his collection. Looking at it now (and I’m now about the age he was when he bought it), I see a Oberndorf Mauser with near perfect metal. Pops knew what he was doing back then!
An old hunting buddy used to be the kind of guy who had to be the first in the field with the latest caliber. He was at the range getting his shoulder beaten by the latest Ackley improved magnum when he noticed an old fellow next to him nonchalantly shooting tight groups with an old milsurp. "What kind of rifle is that?" he asked. "She's a Swedish Mauser, 6.5x55mm." "Mind if I try a group?" "Sure, go ahead." He shot a nice tight group, noting how little recoil he felt: "Well that's great, but how does it perform on game?" "Everything I point it at dies." So he went to the local gun store, bought one, took it hunting, and fell in love. He said he had more one shot kills with it than with any other caliber. It also became his favourite black bear gun, shooting reloads with 140 gr. Nosler Partitions.
@ Ken Lansing: 6.5x55 is famous as a caliber that is consistently underrated in terms of its performance in the field on game thought to be too-much for it, too big, too tough, etc. Although bullets top out around 160-grains, 6.5mm (.264-cal.) projectiles have excellent sectional density numbers, and in the round-nosed configuration, that 160-grainer has taken a lot of game over the years, up to and including moose and bear. It's just such an efficient cartridge, whether one is target-shooting, hunting or going to war. The Swedes stayed neutral during both world wars, so we don't have data from their involvement, but the Finns used them during their different wars of the late 1930s and 1940s, with some success. My understanding is that their typical service rifle was their version of the Mosin-Nagant, but some Swedish Mausers did make into service with them.
Please note, if the back leaf sight is marked with a "T", it is a replacement for the original to compensate for the spitzer bullet. In other cases a metal placard was affixed to the stock showing the corrected hold over for the new round.
The Swedes beat everyone to the punch by over a century ❤️ Got an M38 made by Husqvarna and a modern Sauer rifle in 6.5x55 Both are the most accurate rifles I own
@@bmstylee The Tikkas are excellent! And as close to Swedish as you can get without buying Swedish :D Otherwise an original ex-military Mauser will cost you less then a hundred dollars.
@@bmstylee Sauer makes the Model 100 XT in it (probably the cheapest way to get into one right now). Mine has been excellent (recently shot two 3-shot groups at 200 yards at around an inch with 140 grain handloads :D
This was the weapon I was given when I joined the Swedish Youth Home Guard in 1986, 16 years old. I was then impressed by the impact strength, and how accurate it was. Guess it haven´t change. My mauser was from 1896
This was fantastic. I actually have a shooting trophy at home from my grandfather depicting a swedish infantryman holding an m96 Mauser. So cool getting these insights into a part of history he never got the chance to teach me.
🇸🇪I love my old m96❤️ 122 year old warhorse, shoots like a dream🥰 I gave equal to $30 for it a few years ago, and it has a NOS barrel fitted by Military Armorer. Gonna save it as an heirloom, and from turning in to rebar😢 a destiny for a big number of m96 in Sweden today. Got a lot of the equipment that goes with the rifle aswell. Cool video, never taken it out to more than 300m. But its no problem making a mansize target go nightinight at 300m😎👍🏻
Turning them into rebar? Please explain why they are doing that instead of surplussing them out. They'd make a load of money more as surplus instead of scrap.
I love my "1915" Carl Gustaf m96. Such a sweet rifle. I really enjoy my Finnish m39 also but there is almost an ora about the Swedish Mauser that can't be explained. People who don't know rifles are drawn to it when they come in my vault. It's really been a pleasure to own it. Thanks for the great video and congratulations on buying your Swead.
I do think it's worth noting that the 6.5x55SE is a hotter loading of the 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser cartridge. About 100-150 fps. The Vihtavuori manual shows the differences. So although the regular 6.5x55 Swedish is an excellent cartridge, the SE is just a smidge excellenter. lol.
I have two M38 Husqvarna rifles, and a CZ550 hunting rifle in 6.5x55. They are all INCREDIBLY accurate, and I am not ashamed to say that their accuracy potential greatly exceeds my own shooting ability. GREAT video!
The 6.5x55 is an amazing cartridge, really outperformed many other rifles of the time. Norway and Sweden won a LOT of competitions with their Krags and Mausers, so much so that Denmark, Finland, and Russia made versions of their service rifles that used necked down casings with a 6.5mm projectile and cloned the 6.5x55mm cartridge load to take advantage of its performance. For Denmark it was the 6.5x58RD, for Finland and Russia it was 6.5x54R, basically the same as the 6.5x54 Mannlicher cartridge (or 6.5x53R, for the Finns). Have you guys considered getting one of the CG63 Swedish Mauser rifles to test? If you think that the base Mauser performs well, just wait until you shoot one that was modified by Carl Gustafs and Norma specifically for sports shooting!
I owned a surplus model that I bought for $125. Sold it as the ammo was just too expensive and frankly, the sights aren't the greatest. We called the bullets "Flying Pencils" as the length to diameter was quite extreme, way ahead of its time in 1899. Greatest distance I ever shot it was 675 yards at a metal deer target, did better than my buddies 1903A3 and my Swiss K31, Amazing piece of old tech.
Those "flying pencils" 6.5x55 . and 6.5x52 Japanese were thought of as the best shark killer rounds at sea because they flew farther and straiter than almost any other round., because of their high sectional density
The cartridge was used by the Swedish in the m/94(carbine version of the m/96) already in 1894. Militaries around the world at that time settled around a projectile close to 8mm and thought the Swedish made a mistake...turned out the Swedish did their homework and were ahead of everybody else! Little side note when the ATF declared that a rifle needed to have an 18" barrel like a shotgun to be legal, it was an importer of m/94(16" barrel) who sued the ATF and won in court! Because of that the ATF changed the requirement to 16" barrel to be legal for a rifle.
In my old rifle club we had an annual Swiss and Swede match. It was a popular event and never once did a K 31 take first place. The M 96 ruled those matches.
Keep in mind that the introduction of spitzer and boat tailed rounds in 6.5x55 to the Swedish military was in the 1940s. It's a very impressive modern cartridge in its modern incarnations. The Skarp patron m/94 a lot less so.
Excellent video, guys. Thanks for this one. Dear God I love Swede Mausers. They are some of the prettiest and most elegant military rifles and the craftmanship they were made with as well as the care with which they were maintained was amazing. I have a 1912 which I bought in civilian target setup, but it had headspace issues. Had a good 'smith fit a new Lothar-Walther barrel and left the Fäldt target sight on it since it's excellent. With a Vihtavuori N165 and matchking load it shoots... small groups.
A classic rifle that was converyed into a carbine (shorter version). You can buy these used today in sweden. I have seen for about 2000sek, about 200usd i weaponstores.
The m38 “short rifle” or the m94 “Calvary carbine”? The m38 sets you back $500-$700 in the states. The Calvary carbine double if in original condition. Fun fact. Many m94s over here have little 15mm “extenders” welded onto the barrel muzzle because they original barrels are 17.5 inches long or so, and the legal minimum barrel length when they were mostly imported (1960s) was 18.0”
Swede is a pleasure to shoot, top notch build quality, my opinion best mauser action style, great trigger, crisp sights, it has everything you would consider the best in a milsurp rifle. I love my M39 as well but can't compare the two because the rimless action is much less prone to malfunctions and the recoil is so easy to love.
In Poland, in my shooting club, only the Swiss K31 has a chance to beat the M96. Personally, I have surplus rifle in the original military version from 1901. It is really amazing.
+1 for the excellence of Swedish steel - it's legendary as a result of its atypically low Phosphorus content resulting from the geology of the region, back when I was working on hydraulics and related manufacturing tooling we bought in some very nice and expensive specialist chonks of it because it machined like butter and we were trying to get extremely tight tolerancing on a chuck balancing tool for an asymmetric component which would be Flailing round at high RPM and had to have miniscule differences in weight distribution to prevent vibration or catastrophic failure as a result. But also good for epic swords. Everybody loves Scandinavian swords. Cock on close for the win (Lee Enfield trainee) and there is just something timeless and pleasurable about running bolt action rifles, regardless of their debatable obsolescence.
As an engineer or machinist, you'll be happy to learn that "gauge blocks" were invented by Swedish engineer C.E. Johansson, for the manufacture of this very rifle. It is a licenced adaptation of the mauser pattern and was manufactured at the Carl Gustaf and the Husqvarna armories. Johansson was sent to the Mauser factory in Germany to study their process, but he wasn't too impressed with their precision standards...
The reason Swedish steel is abnormally low in phosphorus content is a bit counterintuitive. Swedish iron ore is extremely pure except for it's abnormally high phosphorus content. Getting rid of all of that pesky phosphorus is the main thing the Swedish steel industry does.
Have a 1917 and a CG63- both used in high power competitions to great effect. It’s amazing when you realize how far ahead of the curve they were with regards to ballistics. Only in recent years has the US sniper program adopted the 6.5mm. Swedes did it in the late 1800’s! Great video ad history- well done
Damn, i miss the M/96 "Bamsebössa" i was issued when i joined the Homeguard in 1978. At the time i was jelaous of the "Big boys" that were issued the H&K G3. Given a choice now, i would choose the M/96.
@@SonsOfLorgar Yah, i heard. Luckily i wasn't around when they went full Clown World on the Homeguard Youth. When i was active we were occasionally issued AK4's, M/45 SMG's and M/58 machine guns and sent on patrols at night on our own in exercises. Sometimes as OPFOR's against both Coastal Rangers and Parachute Rangers.
Back when I was a kid I went on an army youth camp here in Sweden one summer. We shot a lot with the m/96 and some of us managed to score hits at 600m at the end of the camp.
I lucked out in the 1990's when a friend recommended I buy a 1943 Swedish Husqvarna M38 in mint condition at a local gun show for $90. And the seller included 100 rounds of 6.5 X 55. I own some pretty nice rifles but my M38 is my favorite. And the 6.5 X 55 cartridge is incredibly flat shooting. The combination of the rifle and cartridge is close to perfect.
As a Swede I can say that the m/96 sporterized versions is still used and some of the most sought after hunting rifles in the country and the 6,5x55 is an amazing cartridge cartridge that have the same effect as it’s bigger counterparts and has been used to hunt moose here fore a hundred years and I can’t wait to the day I get to own one
The first bolt action to be featured at Eagle Lake, now sitting pretty at the top of the list of service rifles. And the weapon is well over a century old, too!
I find the new AK4C the best allround weapon, totally love the PSG90 and look at the Mauser as the "Grandfather with the experience and stories to tell"
I purchased and own five of them, bought @ 25 years ago when they could be found for $100 each in very good condition. They are truly AMAZING shooting machines!! Only my Swiss K-31s come close in fit, finish and accuracy. I've shot several pre-WWII NRA high-power patches with them and they always impress me and my fellow shooters. These rifles sparked my interest in 6.5 caliber cartridges and my most used hunting rifles are also thus chambered. Light recoil, great accuracy and killing power that far exceeds the paper ballistics. What's not to love?
Finnish Army also had a couple of hundred 6,5x55 Swedish Browning BAR LMG's in inventory during the Continuation War. Along with about 77 000 m/96 rifles. But we never had the new m/41 spitzer ammunition during the war, as far as I am aware.
In the Continuation War of 1941-1944, m/96 rifles were second line equipment because of the non-standard caliber. They were issued mainly to the navy, coastal troops, anti-aircraft artillery and such. They did, however, see some real action on the Hanko front, and on a number of battles fought on the islands on the Gulf of Finland.
Swedish M96 is one of my favorite rifles. If I had to set off in the woods to survive, I'd be well served with this rifle. The craftsmanship is second to none. Another nice Surplus Swedish item is the Swedish Mess kit with Trangia alcohol stove. Thank Me later.
I’ve always wanted one of these but damn, now I really want one. I love the Mauser action and I’m of Scandinavian heritage. That aside, this was a super interesting test and I wasn’t overly surprised by the results because I’ve heard these are very precise and consistent in general but I’m happy it did better than anticipated.
Interesting trick I learned from watching European & Aussie golf over the years (cheers to Ian Baker-Finch): You can quickly make a pretty close conversion from meters to yards by taking the first two digits of the metric distance and add that number to the to the metric distance in order to get a yardage: 137 meters: 13 + 137 ~ 150 yards 182 meters: 18 + 182 ~ 200 yards 274 meters: 27 + 274 ~ 301 yards 366 meters: 36 + 366 ~ 402 yards 457 meters: 45 + 457 ~ 502 yards And so on and so forth. Anyhow this review is one of my favorites ever for the channel. This video had EVERYTHING! Henry, Josh, Simo, a Goddess pronouncing Hayha correctly for us, our new Swedish friend Karl, Ian, Mike B. Superb job on the video and especially the shooting!
I own two of these amazing rifles. 35 years ago it was hard to get ammo in the US, with the only choice expensive Norma ammo. At that time I made my own cases from 7mm Mauser cases. The head is slightly smaller but the M96 still handled them okay. I have ruined their collector value by customizing the rifles, but they are terrific hunting rifles. On one I cut the barrel to 20 inches and mounted a 2x pistol scope in front of the action. It is a terrific scout rifle, very quick handling and light. The other rifle I turned into my snowy day rifle. I cut the barrel to 22 inches and mounted a receiver peep sight. In more recent times I found a box of 100 Lapua cases so I don't have to mess with making cases.
GREAT VIDEO HENRY,!!.. I own a M96 circa (1913) for the last 27 years.. Fired over 1500 rounds with this weapon.. I love it. An attention getter at the gun range... My only problem using this weapon is finding a gun range to fire this M96 beyond 500 yards......
The Swede M96 has been my favorite milsurp since they were first imported to the US in mass back in the late 90's. We were paying $69 each in excellent condition with either an unstamped or a #1 bore condition. They shoot very well with a 140gr cast bullet, too. Lower the velocity to around 1500fps and they are laser accurate.
Since we are'nt that many anymore I might as well throw in my experience with the 6.5x55 here in Sweden. I use the STR 200 as shown in the video but with a diopter sight and a circle sight which is the standard in the Swedish sports shooting scene, from air rifles to 6.5x55, although with the recent influx of hunters, there is now a proper sports scene with scopes. You of course, generally, get a better grouping with the scope since you can be more precise but even with the diopter one can get groupings of only a few centimeters in diameter. In terms of distance I shoot anywhere from below 100 (109 yards) to above 600 meters (656 yards) 300m (328 yards) is standard zero distance in Sweden, Norway is 200m (219 yards), if you do long distance you can push it up to 800 (875 yards) or 900 meters (984 yards) but you are gonna start suffering at that distance, it will be far more sensitive to wind and without a scope you're lucky to hit anything consistently at that range, target size is relevant obv. As mentioned in the video I also load my own ammo but It has more to do with making best custom ammo for the barrel and mechanism rather than prize, though one can save a little on general (around 10% depending), especially if you shoot a lot obv. Since I got the charts I can throw in some data I use while shooting. Shoots about straight up to 100m, at 300m there's a ~40 cm (16 inches) drop, at 500 ~150cm (5 feet) drop, 600 ~250cm (8.2 feet) drop. I zero at 300 per standard but here I describe from 100 not 300, from 300 to 600 there's only a ~170 (5.6 feet) cm drop for example. Keep in mind that these drops are derived from the click based sight adjusment on the diopter and can not be corrolated directly, this is bcuz one 'click' differ based on distance, one click at 300m is about 3 cm (1.1 inches), while at 400m (13 feet) it's about 4 cm (1.6 inches). In the case of the 600 m you cant do 170cm + 40cm and call me wrong, it would be 170 + (13 'clicks' x 6 cm) = 170 + 78 = ~250cm. In terms of wind I use an angle system via the use of a compass and taking wind direction and wind speed into account, It goes from straight sidewind (90 degrees) and three steps using sine (mathematics) down to no wind (straight onwards or away). Tldr, I use effectively either straight sidewind or one of three equal angles down to 0 degree angle. But for reference I will take worst case scenario, 600 meters at 10 m/s, if its above that you probably should not be shooting for safety reasons :P Straight sidewind, is a drift of ~160 cm (5.2 feet) First step or 0,9; is ~140 cm (4.6 feet) Second step or 0,7 is ~110 cm (3.6 feet) Third step or 0,4 is ~60 cm (2 feet) Lastly if it is straight towards you, you can prob throw a few extra clicks on top of the range, so maybe a drif of 12-30 cm (4.7-11.8 inches). Norwegians and some Danes together with Finns might be familiar with this, especially Norwegians but nonetheless, there it is.
I actually got training on this rifle during my swedish military service, to this day it is one of the most accurate rifles I ve shot, I remember it just making one hole with Iron sights at a 100 meters.
Great shooting! Great gun! Great Spotting! I shoot the 6.5 139gr Lapua Scenar out of my Tikka Custom Varmint 6.5 creedmoor with consistent .299 MOA 5 hole groups. I need to push it to 9-hole testing soon when the weather isn't in the 0s!
I built rifles for a living once. Finally got the opportunity to build my own precision hunting rifle and selected the 6.5x55 and it’s never disappointed me. I believe the mild recoil and superior ballistics enables more consistent shooting. I’ve just watched too many flinchers and it doesn’t matter what sort of energy is generated if you miss. Great episode! Subscribed.👍🏻
This is definitely a video I’ve been waiting for. Bought my first one for 109 dollars, that was 28 years ago. Now actually laying on my bed right now is my CG63. Both of these rifles I’ve made shots that left people scratching their heads.
To give some perspective to the accomplishments of Oscar Swahn it's worth noting, that the life expectancy of a Swedish man - born in the 1840's - was 41.66 years. And this bloke won the olympics in his 60's.!
@@KamiKaZantA Indeed, in the team contest, but none the less. I'm under the impression that He also made the selection for the 1924 Paris games, but could not attend due to illness.
The M38, my favorite. Impromptu compition was standing at 300yd gong. Everybody would get first couple...at about 10 rds the Swedes kept hitting. The 6.5 was the go to for me. Now go get the rest of the family, M41B and AG42B. PS: 2nd best for me is M39 and because of cheep ammo, shot it alot. Both were in my first Mil Surp camp and I learned with them. Delightful video.
Oscar Swahn won his 1st Olympic gold medal at the 1908 games and the 1912 Olympic gold medal in Running Deer shooting, aged 64. In 1920 he won the Olympic silver medal at Antwerp aged 72. Becoming the oldest Gold and Silver winner, as well as the oldest triple gold medal winner.
Watching these older rifles being run on these courses is a joy; thank you guys so much for what you do. Based on your work with these rifles on the courses, I'd be interested to see the Springfield 1903 on the second course to see A) if it would perform better than it did on the other course, and B) to see if--on the second course--it even comes close to challenging this M96 or the Finnish Mosin. My guess would be probably not, but it'd be worth a watch, and rewatch... and re-rewatch.
I have a M/96 from 1919, she's brand new and the most magnificent gun in my collection, shoots like a dream. I already know I will never fire as good as it can, but damn, feels good man. Happy to see you enjoyed it too.
I had no idea we actually shipped steel to Germany to manufacture these. Talk about an obsession with consistency... Though it's hard to argue with the results xD
We’ve done it several times. LKAB shipped steel to Germany to make wear plates to their own plants and mills back in the days. We know how to make great steel.
I shot "service rifle" for a number of years with the 6.5, absolutely loved it. Regrettably with Australian law, moving states & trying to transfer licences & firearm registration, was such a bitch(I'm sure intentional) that I basically gave up & sold it to one of the other members.
@@bestestusername ok... this was 11 years ago, moved from Qld to Vic. They insisted that I store my firearms (rifles, sidearms) in a secure approved safe IN Qld for 6 months whilst the paperwork was being put through. How? Who with? & how do I get them from Qld to Vic after approval? So....ended up selling the lot & getting back into bows (no licence for them, hah!)
I grew up in the 70's shooting kar98k's 1943 DOT and 1944 DOU, along with modern rifles. In my second enlistment(U.S.M.C.) in the 90's I got hooked on Swedes, had two M38, two M96, and a AG42b. I absolutely love the 96 Mauser action, in 6.5x55. Only a fool would duel against that combination. 6.5 cost more, Ja, Karl I am stealing that..... That is one of those, why cartridges.... Anything it does 6.5x55 does better.
A 1905 M96 was my second rifle and it works like a swiss clockwork up to today. It looks worn and it seems to have some history - and I love it. Wonderful video, thank you.
for my 16th birthday me and my dad went to our local pawnshop to get me a old mosin. They had a few but they were junk but as soon as we were about to leave he spotted one of these and that was one of the best purchases we have ever made!
I bought several of these m96 when they were plentiful. also got a like new 38 Husqvarna. sporterised them all. what a great deer cartridge. never saw a need for a creedmore or 260 rem.
If you want another proof of how we keep old shooting traditions alive here in Sweden, we still have a competition class for the good ol' m/45 K-pist. When will we see you try that one on the range? :)
I love this cartridge. I helped my mate by his first rifle in 6.5 x 55, just a second hand Howa 1500, I glass bedded it for him and it's a tack driver. Been trying to buy it off him for years.
Lets just take a moment to admire the man at 21:50 has shoes on his bipod..... 🤣😂 6.5x55 is also popular here in Denmark, simply because of the availability and price of the swedish mausers and ammunition to feed them, we have the same issues as they do with 6.5 creedmore
I own numerous Swedish Mausers in different setups and they are all shooting extremely well, so no surprises here. Fantastic rifle and because of mild 6.5 recoil, extremely enjoyable and fun to shoot. Gret video guys!
Hi Rob!
Swedish mauser is my dream mauser. Hey love both you guys videos please keep it up.
any chance of you guys some day checking out a swedish semi auto in 6,5x55 ag 42 Ljungman rifle someday
Do it!!!
Rob, I owe you one for influencing me to get one after a video you did a while back. It is a beautiful rifle
The high nickel content of the iron ore found in Sweden is the reason they required Mauser to use their steel to build their rifles. It makes them very resistant to corrosion, which is why you still see so many nice ones today.
Cool to see more people discovering the amazing 6.5x55 cartridge 🥳
Congrats man, nice to see youre beeing recognized on the other Side of the Pond as well.
@@Rutzerli Thank you! 👍🍻
My friend's dad has a shooter grade one of these rifles. I really want to take it out but i dared not ask
Watching the trails as the bullets go downrange - one of the flatter shooting rounds I've seen on this channel.
@@jarink1 I use 6.5x55 for prs and lr here in Sweden. Very nice for spotting yourself. Low recoil and flat shooting 👌🏻
I bought my first 6.5x55 in the 80s. We use to call them the $80 wonder guns. One hell of a rifle for the cost of 3 cases of beer in those days.
Me too John. the m-38's showed up first they were going for 120$ the96's were 79$ and not as nice. i had ffl then. sks were79 also
In my area now they're $550 and up
@@nachos_70firebird66 that's still a deal, these rifles would easily cost over $4000 today if produced in a modern firearms factory -- they are pro-grade target rifles.
In Austrian surplus rifle matches the first 10 places are mostly taken up by people shooting an M96. The first four places often have 100 out of 100 points and are only determined by group size or who hit the inner ten the most. Considering that the 10 ring is 5cm (about 2 inches) in diameter that's just very impressive from both the shooters and rifles.
VERY impressive indeed
Do you have people shooting 1903a3 Springfields and P14s/M1917s? Those have arguably greater potential as target rifles.
@@dmytro732 I don't think that there are many people using them because they are rare over here which means that they aren't that established in competition. Their prices are above your average M96 in perfect condition and I personally think that many of the shooters do so well is because of the low recoil which isn't that hard on your concentration throughout the match. Another type of rifles that are commonly doing extremely well are Mauser rifles in 7x57. The Swiss straight pull rifles can also do well at times but they aren't as popular as the Swedes or 7x57 Mausers from what I've seen myself.
@@dmytro732 lmao the 6.5x55 out of an M96, stock for stock, will nearly always outshoot an M1917 or 03. Not to burst your bubble
is that at 300 meters?
As a Finn, all I can say is that my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. Those Gladstone Ganders always do this to us. At least the ammo was Finnish.
More seriously, nothing but respect for the Swedes. Perhaps a little bit of jealousy, the same way a little brother is jealous of their older brother. Great rifle, and a great culture of marksmanship.
I shoot lapua scenar in my M-38 great stuff
No offence taken, just keep Europas biggest artillery park aimed at Ivan.
If it’s any consolation (or insult to injury), Swedish volunteers with these rifles did help y’all out in the Winter War, so it has some Finnish history
Hey, at least you still have Finnish Brutality!
@@sirboomsalot4902 Like I said, nothing but respect for the Swedes. The Finnish-Swedish rivalry is just something that makes losing in a friendly competition taste bitter to us, but when the chips are down the Swedes are our closest allies. Sorry for not buying Gripens, but the deal on F35s was too good to pass up.
As for the rifles, the M39 is a rifle made from modernizing surplus rifles of dubious origins. It's a testament to taking something cheap and trying to squeeze the absolute most out of it. The M/96 by contrast is a rifle made from the best quality materials, with the best available production and assembly lines, shooting a far more accurate cartridge and it was designed for marksmanship/performance over cost. It is by far the better rifle. Nobody can doubt that.
Ukko-pekka and Pystykorva still have a lot of heart though.
The vapor trail and arc of the round at 1000 was crazy
not a vapor trail, but rather an optical illusion similar to "heat haze" you see from say a jet exhaust, or a hot highway, the hot air refracts the light waves and causes distortion, or a moving sort of hazy appearance.
I always wanted to try one of the Swedish BARs in 6.5x55. That sounds like a sweet-shooting automatic rifle.
Sounds like a sexy combo
The Ljungman is on my shopping list👍🏻
Eh, still severely handicapped by not being top-fed.
Not as sweet as the FN MAG '58 in 6.5×55mm ;)
@@SonsOfLorgar Or the m/36 in double mount, my brother entered the military about 1973, then was the 6.5x55 going out, so when the training on the m/36 they used the 6.6x55 as many they wanted to shoot, the m/36 had barrels for an Bofors 8x63mm with an extra heavy projectile to reach out mostly for AA, but there was taught that they was able to shoot indirect fire, they rebarreld the m/96 to the same caliber for logistics, I do not remember what is was called, I think they later on made barrels for 7.62x51 for the m/36.
Some of the best manufacturing using some of the best steel that was ever available. That combined with an amazing cartridge in the 6.5x55 gives you a stupid accurate milsurp rifle that has an amazing resume in numerous competitions.
It was a good steel for its time, but nowhere near the beat steel ever made. Metallurgy has come a long way and continue to improve with time.
I have one from 1919 and it looks almost brand new. It’s a fantastic rifle.
The idea of a war instrument looking brand new and it was made in 1919 just blows my mind. That’s sweet dude
@Other Barry mine doesn’t have a threaded barrel. The only part that doesn’t match are the sights, that’s typical for those rifles. As the video stated, ammunition was changed.
Surplus rifles are basically the only thing I’ve used my entire life. Grand fathers battle rifle then I have a Russian mosin.
My 1919 Carl Gustav is a tack driver!
My 1911 Carl Gustav is my favorite of all my Mausers , its a tack driver 🇸🇪
My first surplus military rifle was a Swedish M38. I bought a M96 a year after that. A few years beyond I finally acquired a AG42B. Outstanding rifles all!
It's funny you mentioned people emailing you about lending one, I actually sent you guys an email about 2 years ago at this point about the same thing. I'm glad you finally got around to it, and it's cool to see you enjoying the rifle.
man i'm sorry we didn't respond! This has been a hotly requested item and I had always wanted one! (so i bought 3)
@@9HoleReviews I bought a Swedish mauser m38 and the guy said that it was brand new and it has never been fired since ww2
@@9HoleReviews No problem man, I just sent it on a whim, since you were doing a bunch of other surplus rifles at the time. I think this series on Swedish rifles turned out pretty well, so it was worth the wait.
@@9HoleReviews My offer still stands when you want to do a 6.5mm Swedish BAR Kg m/37. I even have a bunch of Swedish surplus sniper ammo.
@@Mongo63a if the BAR ever needs a new home....
In the early 80s my dad bought one of these with a dark, dinged up stock for $40. When I was a kid I thought it was a piece of junk because it was by far the homeliest rifle in his collection. Looking at it now (and I’m now about the age he was when he bought it), I see a Oberndorf Mauser with near perfect metal. Pops knew what he was doing back then!
An old hunting buddy used to be the kind of guy who had to be the first in the field with the latest caliber. He was at the range getting his shoulder beaten by the latest Ackley improved magnum when he noticed an old fellow next to him nonchalantly shooting tight groups with an old milsurp. "What kind of rifle is that?" he asked.
"She's a Swedish Mauser, 6.5x55mm."
"Mind if I try a group?"
"Sure, go ahead."
He shot a nice tight group, noting how little recoil he felt: "Well that's great, but how does it perform on game?"
"Everything I point it at dies."
So he went to the local gun store, bought one, took it hunting, and fell in love. He said he had more one shot kills with it than with any other caliber. It also became his favourite black bear gun, shooting reloads with 140 gr. Nosler Partitions.
@ Ken Lansing: 6.5x55 is famous as a caliber that is consistently underrated in terms of its performance in the field on game thought to be too-much for it, too big, too tough, etc. Although bullets top out around 160-grains, 6.5mm (.264-cal.) projectiles have excellent sectional density numbers, and in the round-nosed configuration, that 160-grainer has taken a lot of game over the years, up to and including moose and bear. It's just such an efficient cartridge, whether one is target-shooting, hunting or going to war. The Swedes stayed neutral during both world wars, so we don't have data from their involvement, but the Finns used them during their different wars of the late 1930s and 1940s, with some success. My understanding is that their typical service rifle was their version of the Mosin-Nagant, but some Swedish Mausers did make into service with them.
At 15yrs old, I did my final shooting test for my hunting license with one of these! Sporterized stock, but with a full length barrel.
Mine literally arrived today. Perfect timing!
Please note, if the back leaf sight is marked with a "T", it is a replacement for the original to compensate for the spitzer bullet. In other cases a metal placard was affixed to the stock showing the corrected hold over for the new round.
The arc on those shots taken at 1000 yards, it’s cool the video is able to pick that up. Fantastic marksmanship as always.
Just the sound of Henry running the action is so beautiful! The mechanical clacking is just so pleasurable! It’s like an asmr thing.
Only a few can understand that.
The Swedes beat everyone to the punch by over a century ❤️
Got an M38 made by Husqvarna and a modern Sauer rifle in 6.5x55
Both are the most accurate rifles I own
And the Italians beat the Swedes by about 3-4 years.
Yeah, i'm still a bit sad that we never got an assault rifle in 6.5mm, we had a lot of trials but in the end went for the G3.
After seeing this I might need a modern gun in 6.5 Swedish. Maybe a Tikka in a KRG Bravo chassis
@@bmstylee The Tikkas are excellent! And as close to Swedish as you can get without buying Swedish :D
Otherwise an original ex-military Mauser will cost you less then a hundred dollars.
@@bmstylee Sauer makes the Model 100 XT in it (probably the cheapest way to get into one right now). Mine has been excellent (recently shot two 3-shot groups at 200 yards at around an inch with 140 grain handloads :D
This was the weapon I was given when I joined the Swedish Youth Home Guard in 1986, 16 years old. I was then impressed by the impact strength, and how accurate it was. Guess it haven´t change. My mauser was from 1896
This was fantastic. I actually have a shooting trophy at home from my grandfather depicting a swedish infantryman holding an m96 Mauser. So cool getting these insights into a part of history he never got the chance to teach me.
🇸🇪I love my old m96❤️ 122 year old warhorse, shoots like a dream🥰 I gave equal to $30 for it a few years ago, and it has a NOS barrel fitted by Military Armorer. Gonna save it as an heirloom, and from turning in to rebar😢 a destiny for a big number of m96 in Sweden today. Got a lot of the equipment that goes with the rifle aswell. Cool video, never taken it out to more than 300m. But its no problem making a mansize target go nightinight at 300m😎👍🏻
Turning them into rebar? Please explain why they are doing that instead of surplussing them out. They'd make a load of money more as surplus instead of scrap.
I love my "1915" Carl Gustaf m96. Such a sweet rifle. I really enjoy my Finnish m39 also but there is almost an ora about the Swedish Mauser that can't be explained. People who don't know rifles are drawn to it when they come in my vault. It's really been a pleasure to own it. Thanks for the great video and congratulations on buying your Swead.
I do think it's worth noting that the 6.5x55SE is a hotter loading of the 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser cartridge. About 100-150 fps. The Vihtavuori manual shows the differences. So although the regular 6.5x55 Swedish is an excellent cartridge, the SE is just a smidge excellenter. lol.
I have two M38 Husqvarna rifles, and a CZ550 hunting rifle in 6.5x55. They are all INCREDIBLY accurate, and I am not ashamed to say that their accuracy potential greatly exceeds my own shooting ability. GREAT video!
The 6.5x55 is an amazing cartridge, really outperformed many other rifles of the time. Norway and Sweden won a LOT of competitions with their Krags and Mausers, so much so that Denmark, Finland, and Russia made versions of their service rifles that used necked down casings with a 6.5mm projectile and cloned the 6.5x55mm cartridge load to take advantage of its performance. For Denmark it was the 6.5x58RD, for Finland and Russia it was 6.5x54R, basically the same as the 6.5x54 Mannlicher cartridge (or 6.5x53R, for the Finns).
Have you guys considered getting one of the CG63 Swedish Mauser rifles to test? If you think that the base Mauser performs well, just wait until you shoot one that was modified by Carl Gustafs and Norma specifically for sports shooting!
Thanks!
I owned a surplus model that I bought for $125. Sold it as the ammo was just too expensive and frankly, the sights aren't the greatest. We called the bullets "Flying Pencils" as the length to diameter was quite extreme, way ahead of its time in 1899. Greatest distance I ever shot it was 675 yards at a metal deer target, did better than my buddies 1903A3 and my Swiss K31, Amazing piece of old tech.
I also prefer shooting this to the 1903, but I really enjoy the unique swiss actions! #newslettergang
Those "flying pencils" 6.5x55 . and 6.5x52 Japanese were thought of as the best shark killer rounds at sea because they flew farther and straiter than almost any other round., because of their high sectional density
The cartridge was used by the Swedish in the m/94(carbine version of the m/96) already in 1894. Militaries around the world at that time settled around a projectile close to 8mm and thought the Swedish made a mistake...turned out the Swedish did their homework and were ahead of everybody else!
Little side note when the ATF declared that a rifle needed to have an 18" barrel like a shotgun to be legal, it was an importer of m/94(16" barrel) who sued the ATF and won in court! Because of that the ATF changed the requirement to 16" barrel to be legal for a rifle.
In my old rifle club we had an annual Swiss and Swede match. It was a popular event and never once did a K 31 take first place. The M 96 ruled those matches.
Keep in mind that the introduction of spitzer and boat tailed rounds in 6.5x55 to the Swedish military was in the 1940s. It's a very impressive modern cartridge in its modern incarnations. The Skarp patron m/94 a lot less so.
Excellent video, guys. Thanks for this one. Dear God I love Swede Mausers. They are some of the prettiest and most elegant military rifles and the craftmanship they were made with as well as the care with which they were maintained was amazing. I have a 1912 which I bought in civilian target setup, but it had headspace issues. Had a good 'smith fit a new Lothar-Walther barrel and left the Fäldt target sight on it since it's excellent. With a Vihtavuori N165 and matchking load it shoots... small groups.
A classic rifle that was converyed into a carbine (shorter version). You can buy these used today in sweden. I have seen for about 2000sek, about 200usd i weaponstores.
The m38 “short rifle” or the m94 “Calvary carbine”? The m38 sets you back $500-$700 in the states. The Calvary carbine double if in original condition.
Fun fact. Many m94s over here have little 15mm “extenders” welded onto the barrel muzzle because they original barrels are 17.5 inches long or so, and the legal minimum barrel length when they were mostly imported (1960s) was 18.0”
Henry truly has great eyes, I am jealous. Really appreciate you reviewing old weapons that I love, and your great reviews.
Swede is a pleasure to shoot, top notch build quality, my opinion best mauser action style, great trigger, crisp sights, it has everything you would consider the best in a milsurp rifle. I love my M39 as well but can't compare the two because the rimless action is much less prone to malfunctions and the recoil is so easy to love.
In Poland, in my shooting club, only the Swiss K31 has a chance to beat the M96. Personally, I have surplus rifle in the original military version from 1901. It is really amazing.
Finn M39 is right there with them but definitely a worse action
Very nice! As a Swede I'm happy to see you try M/96. I would love if you would look in to the Swedish AG42B Ljungman in 6.5x55!
Seconded!
Once you work out how to open the action they are a fantastic rifle! 😆
I own one and there flat out awesome 👌 by far the most accurate semi I own and great for hunting
Best rifle and caliber ever.
+1 for the excellence of Swedish steel - it's legendary as a result of its atypically low Phosphorus content resulting from the geology of the region, back when I was working on hydraulics and related manufacturing tooling we bought in some very nice and expensive specialist chonks of it because it machined like butter and we were trying to get extremely tight tolerancing on a chuck balancing tool for an asymmetric component which would be Flailing round at high RPM and had to have miniscule differences in weight distribution to prevent vibration or catastrophic failure as a result.
But also good for epic swords.
Everybody loves Scandinavian swords.
Cock on close for the win (Lee Enfield trainee) and there is just something timeless and pleasurable about running bolt action rifles, regardless of their debatable obsolescence.
As an engineer or machinist, you'll be happy to learn that "gauge blocks" were invented by Swedish engineer C.E. Johansson, for the manufacture of this very rifle. It is a licenced adaptation of the mauser pattern and was manufactured at the Carl Gustaf and the Husqvarna armories.
Johansson was sent to the Mauser factory in Germany to study their process, but he wasn't too impressed with their precision standards...
The reason Swedish steel is abnormally low in phosphorus content is a bit counterintuitive.
Swedish iron ore is extremely pure except for it's abnormally high phosphorus content.
Getting rid of all of that pesky phosphorus is the main thing the Swedish steel industry does.
Henry you are a true Marksman. I am constantly impressed at your skill especially with iron sights
Have a 1917 and a CG63- both used in high power competitions to great effect. It’s amazing when you realize how far ahead of the curve they were with regards to ballistics. Only in recent years has the US sniper program adopted the 6.5mm. Swedes did it in the late 1800’s! Great video ad history- well done
As a bit of a funny note, the 6.5 Grendel, the stubby 6.5, is ballistically identical to the 6.5 Arisaka.
5:58 WOW! That's nuts to actually SEE the bullet arc that much at that range! The flight time, too!😮
Damn, i miss the M/96 "Bamsebössa" i was issued when i joined the Homeguard in 1978. At the time i was jelaous of the "Big boys" that were issued the H&K G3. Given a choice now, i would choose the M/96.
I fired one in the homeguard youth, a year later, they pulled our beloved mausers and replaced them with .22LR sporting rifles...
@@SonsOfLorgar Yah, i heard. Luckily i wasn't around when they went full Clown World on the Homeguard Youth. When i was active we were occasionally issued AK4's, M/45 SMG's and M/58 machine guns and sent on patrols at night on our own in exercises. Sometimes as OPFOR's against both Coastal Rangers and Parachute Rangers.
M96 was not as effective when you fight in dense woods as an AK4.
@@ghostviggen I cant remember having any great problem with it.
@@thomasrehbinder7722 Then you never encountered that 6 people charge at you. 😉
It’s always a pleasure to see a new 9-hole video is coming in.
Thanks guys!
Back when I was a kid I went on an army youth camp here in Sweden one summer. We shot a lot with the m/96 and some of us managed to score hits at 600m at the end of the camp.
Hands-down my Favorite Mauser variant ever devised. Great video! Glad you like the blouse!
Fantastic ! makes me all warm and fuzzy inside to see the first rifle I shot as a 5 year old do so exeptionally well !
I lucked out in the 1990's when a friend recommended I buy a 1943 Swedish Husqvarna M38 in mint condition at a local gun show for $90. And the seller included 100 rounds of 6.5 X 55. I own some pretty nice rifles but my M38 is my favorite. And the 6.5 X 55 cartridge is incredibly flat shooting. The combination of the rifle and cartridge is close to perfect.
Fantastic video. I just picked up a m/94-14 carbine- what an incredible action!
As a Swede I can say that the m/96 sporterized versions is still used and some of the most sought after hunting rifles in the country and the 6,5x55 is an amazing cartridge cartridge that have the same effect as it’s bigger counterparts and has been used to hunt moose here fore a hundred years and I can’t wait to the day I get to own one
Elk, moose live in the Americas. On the flip-side, the only wapitis found in Europe are in zoos.
@@johanmetreus1268 and your point is??
@@SimonUdd Slightly different animals, living on very different continents.
@@johanmetreus1268 and what does that have to do with anything regarding my comment
@@SimonUdd " has been used to hunt moose here fore a hundred years"
We do not have moose in Sweden.
I have a Husqvarna made M96 and absolutely adore it.
The first bolt action to be featured at Eagle Lake, now sitting pretty at the top of the list of service rifles. And the weapon is well over a century old, too!
I find the new AK4C the best allround weapon, totally love the PSG90 and look at the Mauser as the "Grandfather with the experience and stories to tell"
The Rifle or the round or both are very good judging from its flat trajectory even beyond substantial ranges, the Swedes really make good stuff.
I purchased and own five of them, bought @ 25 years ago when they could be found for $100 each in very good condition. They are truly AMAZING shooting machines!! Only my Swiss K-31s come close in fit, finish and accuracy. I've shot several pre-WWII NRA high-power patches with them and they always impress me and my fellow shooters. These rifles sparked my interest in 6.5 caliber cartridges and my most used hunting rifles are also thus chambered. Light recoil, great accuracy and killing power that far exceeds the paper ballistics. What's not to love?
Finnish Army also had a couple of hundred 6,5x55 Swedish Browning BAR LMG's in inventory during the Continuation War. Along with about 77 000 m/96 rifles. But we never had the new m/41 spitzer ammunition during the war, as far as I am aware.
In the Continuation War of 1941-1944, m/96 rifles were second line equipment because of the non-standard caliber. They were issued mainly to the navy, coastal troops, anti-aircraft artillery and such. They did, however, see some real action on the Hanko front, and on a number of battles fought on the islands on the Gulf of Finland.
Swedish M96 is one of my favorite rifles. If I had to set off in the woods to survive, I'd be well served with this rifle. The craftsmanship is second to none. Another nice Surplus Swedish item is the Swedish Mess kit with Trangia alcohol stove. Thank Me later.
I’ve always wanted one of these but damn, now I really want one. I love the Mauser action and I’m of Scandinavian heritage. That aside, this was a super interesting test and I wasn’t overly surprised by the results because I’ve heard these are very precise and consistent in general but I’m happy it did better than anticipated.
Interesting trick I learned from watching European & Aussie golf over the years (cheers to Ian Baker-Finch):
You can quickly make a pretty close conversion from meters to yards by taking the first two digits of the metric distance and add that number to the to the metric distance in order to get a yardage:
137 meters: 13 + 137 ~ 150 yards
182 meters: 18 + 182 ~ 200 yards
274 meters: 27 + 274 ~ 301 yards
366 meters: 36 + 366 ~ 402 yards
457 meters: 45 + 457 ~ 502 yards
And so on and so forth.
Anyhow this review is one of my favorites ever for the channel. This video had EVERYTHING! Henry, Josh, Simo, a Goddess pronouncing Hayha correctly for us, our new Swedish friend Karl, Ian, Mike B. Superb job on the video and especially the shooting!
Amazing feat for such an old rifle, thanks for the content!
I own two of these amazing rifles. 35 years ago it was hard to get ammo in the US, with the only choice expensive Norma ammo. At that time I made my own cases from 7mm Mauser cases. The head is slightly smaller but the M96 still handled them okay. I have ruined their collector value by customizing the rifles, but they are terrific hunting rifles. On one I cut the barrel to 20 inches and mounted a 2x pistol scope in front of the action. It is a terrific scout rifle, very quick handling and light. The other rifle I turned into my snowy day rifle. I cut the barrel to 22 inches and mounted a receiver peep sight. In more recent times I found a box of 100 Lapua cases so I don't have to mess with making cases.
GREAT VIDEO HENRY,!!.. I own a M96 circa (1913) for the last 27 years.. Fired over 1500 rounds with this weapon.. I love it. An attention getter at the gun range... My only problem using this weapon is finding a gun range to fire this M96 beyond 500 yards......
The Swede M96 has been my favorite milsurp since they were first imported to the US in mass back in the late 90's. We were paying $69 each in excellent condition with either an unstamped or a #1 bore condition.
They shoot very well with a 140gr cast bullet, too. Lower the velocity to around 1500fps and they are laser accurate.
Own it!
Can't wait to shoot it.
Beautiful look and exceptional quality
Thank you, I really enjoyed this. The Swedish Mauser rocks!!!
Since we are'nt that many anymore I might as well throw in my experience with the 6.5x55 here in Sweden.
I use the STR 200 as shown in the video but with a diopter sight and a circle sight which is the standard in the Swedish sports shooting scene, from air rifles to 6.5x55, although with the recent influx of hunters, there is now a proper sports scene with scopes. You of course, generally, get a better grouping with the scope since you can be more precise but even with the diopter one can get groupings of only a few centimeters in diameter.
In terms of distance I shoot anywhere from below 100 (109 yards) to above 600 meters (656 yards) 300m (328 yards) is standard zero distance in Sweden, Norway is 200m (219 yards), if you do long distance you can push it up to 800 (875 yards) or 900 meters (984 yards) but you are gonna start suffering at that distance, it will be far more sensitive to wind and without a scope you're lucky to hit anything consistently at that range, target size is relevant obv.
As mentioned in the video I also load my own ammo but It has more to do with making best custom ammo for the barrel and mechanism rather than prize, though one can save a little on general (around 10% depending), especially if you shoot a lot obv.
Since I got the charts I can throw in some data I use while shooting.
Shoots about straight up to 100m, at 300m there's a ~40 cm (16 inches) drop, at 500 ~150cm (5 feet) drop, 600 ~250cm (8.2 feet) drop.
I zero at 300 per standard but here I describe from 100 not 300, from 300 to 600 there's only a ~170 (5.6 feet) cm drop for example.
Keep in mind that these drops are derived from the click based sight adjusment on the diopter and can not be corrolated directly, this is bcuz one 'click' differ based on distance, one click at 300m is about 3 cm (1.1 inches), while at 400m (13 feet) it's about 4 cm (1.6 inches).
In the case of the 600 m you cant do 170cm + 40cm and call me wrong, it would be 170 + (13 'clicks' x 6 cm) = 170 + 78 = ~250cm.
In terms of wind I use an angle system via the use of a compass and taking wind direction and wind speed into account, It goes from straight sidewind (90 degrees) and three steps using sine (mathematics) down to no wind (straight onwards or away). Tldr, I use effectively either straight sidewind or one of three equal angles down to 0 degree angle.
But for reference I will take worst case scenario, 600 meters at 10 m/s, if its above that you probably should not be shooting for safety reasons :P
Straight sidewind, is a drift of ~160 cm (5.2 feet)
First step or 0,9; is ~140 cm (4.6 feet)
Second step or 0,7 is ~110 cm (3.6 feet)
Third step or 0,4 is ~60 cm (2 feet)
Lastly if it is straight towards you, you can prob throw a few extra clicks on top of the range, so maybe a drif of 12-30 cm (4.7-11.8 inches).
Norwegians and some Danes together with Finns might be familiar with this, especially Norwegians but nonetheless, there it is.
I actually got training on this rifle during my swedish military service, to this day it is one of the most accurate rifles I ve shot, I remember it just making one hole with Iron sights at a 100 meters.
Great shooting! Great gun! Great Spotting! I shoot the 6.5 139gr Lapua Scenar out of my Tikka Custom Varmint 6.5 creedmoor with consistent .299 MOA 5 hole groups. I need to push it to 9-hole testing soon when the weather isn't in the 0s!
I built rifles for a living once. Finally got the opportunity to build my own precision hunting rifle and selected the 6.5x55 and it’s never disappointed me. I believe the mild recoil and superior ballistics enables more consistent shooting. I’ve just watched too many flinchers and it doesn’t matter what sort of energy is generated if you miss.
Great episode! Subscribed.👍🏻
Such a great rifle, that 6.5 Swede cartridge is a laser beam! I need one but in a Carbine/ short model.
This is definitely a video I’ve been waiting for. Bought my first one for 109 dollars, that was 28 years ago. Now actually laying on my bed right now is my CG63. Both of these rifles I’ve made shots that left people scratching their heads.
To give some perspective to the accomplishments of Oscar Swahn it's worth noting, that the life expectancy of a Swedish man - born in the 1840's - was 41.66 years. And this bloke won the olympics in his 60's.!
And a silver in Antwerp at 72 years old
@@KamiKaZantA Indeed, in the team contest, but none the less. I'm under the impression that He also made the selection for the 1924 Paris games, but could not attend due to illness.
The M38, my favorite. Impromptu compition was standing at 300yd gong. Everybody would get first couple...at about 10 rds the Swedes kept hitting. The 6.5 was the go to for me. Now go get the rest of the family, M41B and AG42B. PS: 2nd best for me is M39 and because of cheep ammo, shot it alot. Both were in my first Mil Surp camp and I learned with them. Delightful video.
Oscar Swahn won his 1st Olympic gold medal at the 1908 games and the 1912 Olympic gold medal in Running Deer shooting, aged 64. In 1920 he won the Olympic silver medal at Antwerp aged 72. Becoming the oldest Gold and Silver winner, as well as the oldest triple gold medal winner.
And in 1924 he was beaten by a Norwegian with a Krag 🙂
The vapor trail on the final shot was so satisfying, you can see the bullet all the way to the target.
Watching these older rifles being run on these courses is a joy; thank you guys so much for what you do. Based on your work with these rifles on the courses, I'd be interested to see the Springfield 1903 on the second course to see A) if it would perform better than it did on the other course, and B) to see if--on the second course--it even comes close to challenging this M96 or the Finnish Mosin. My guess would be probably not, but it'd be worth a watch, and rewatch... and re-rewatch.
I have a M/96 from 1919, she's brand new and the most magnificent gun in my collection, shoots like a dream.
I already know I will never fire as good as it can, but damn, feels good man. Happy to see you enjoyed it too.
Another great review! Adding Karl's insights to your own further enhances the quality and content. #newslettergang
Thank you for going so into depth on this Swedish series, you really did it justice.
I had no idea we actually shipped steel to Germany to manufacture these.
Talk about an obsession with consistency...
Though it's hard to argue with the results xD
We’ve done it several times. LKAB shipped steel to Germany to make wear plates to their own plants and mills back in the days. We know how to make great steel.
Never clicked a link from my email any faster. Gotta love being on that newsletter.
I shot "service rifle" for a number of years with the 6.5, absolutely loved it.
Regrettably with Australian law, moving states & trying to transfer licences & firearm registration, was such a bitch(I'm sure intentional) that I basically gave up & sold it to one of the other members.
Which state did you go from too? I am Victoria and curious about moving interstate. I reckon WA and SA are worst
@@bestestusername ok...
this was 11 years ago, moved from Qld to Vic.
They insisted that I store my firearms (rifles, sidearms) in a secure approved safe IN Qld for 6 months whilst the paperwork was being put through.
How? Who with? & how do I get them from Qld to Vic after approval?
So....ended up selling the lot & getting back into bows (no licence for them, hah!)
I grew up in the 70's shooting kar98k's 1943 DOT and 1944 DOU,
along with modern rifles.
In my second enlistment(U.S.M.C.) in the 90's I got hooked on Swedes, had two M38, two M96, and a AG42b.
I absolutely love the 96 Mauser action, in 6.5x55. Only a fool would duel against that combination.
6.5 cost more,
Ja, Karl I am stealing that.....
That is one of those, why cartridges....
Anything it does 6.5x55 does better.
Lovley to see :) I own a Tikka T3x Sporter on this calibre 6.5x55 :) happy to see it perform :)
A 1905 M96 was my second rifle and it works like a swiss clockwork up to today. It looks worn and it seems to have some history - and I love it. Wonderful video, thank you.
Nordic bolt action rifles are legendary for a reason.
for my 16th birthday me and my dad went to our local pawnshop to get me a old mosin. They had a few but they were junk but as soon as we were about to leave he spotted one of these and that was one of the best purchases we have ever made!
I'd love to see you try the AG42B Ljungman. Semi-auto, so not directly comparable, but a vewry interesting rifle nonetheless.
Great episode, thank you for sharing. By far one of the best and low-profile cartridges.
Would love to see a Japanese type 30 with its 6.5 round compared to the this one being they were made around the same time
The Carcano.
The 6.5 Arisaka is a couple hundred fps slower.
This makes me so glad I bought one. Totally cool gun. Good shooting man.
Interesting result. I would like to see the Italian carcano in 6.5 run the course and see the difference
I bought several of these m96 when they were plentiful. also got a like new 38 Husqvarna. sporterised them all. what a great deer cartridge. never saw a need for a creedmore or 260 rem.
If you want another proof of how we keep old shooting traditions alive here in Sweden, we still have a competition class for the good ol' m/45 K-pist. When will we see you try that one on the range? :)
I love this cartridge. I helped my mate by his first rifle in 6.5 x 55, just a second hand Howa 1500, I glass bedded it for him and it's a tack driver. Been trying to buy it off him for years.
Fantastic rifles! Can you imagine how much it would cost to produce them in 2022 with the level of fit and finish they did in 1900??
Subbed immediately after that gem of an intro lmao love the info, love the shooting, and the content engaging. Quality stuff, brother.
I have the carbine version...superbly accurate and pleasant shooting. Would love to find some of that Lapua ammo!
Yeah that Lapua ammo cost quite a bit, and the brass will hopefully stay with us for a while! #newslettergang
@@9HoleReviews
Would have been fun to see You shot with m41 ammo. A litle bit more of a Kick in that ammo but lots of precision 🙂
Beautiful Gewehr
6.5x55 is one hell of a cartridge, Sweden and Norway was way ahead of its time when they adopted it
Lets just take a moment to admire the man at 21:50 has shoes on his bipod..... 🤣😂 6.5x55 is also popular here in Denmark, simply because of the availability and price of the swedish mausers and ammunition to feed them, we have the same issues as they do with 6.5 creedmore
Newsletter gang in the house!
#newslettergang !!!