On November 3, 1893, the United Kingdom of Norway and Sweden adopted the 6.5x55 mm cartridge. As a result, the Swedes chambered their new service rifle--the Model 96 Mauser--in this round. The Swedish Mauser was manufactured relatively unchanged from 1896 to 1943, and M96 Rifle and M38 Carbine rifles, known by collectors as "Swedish Mausers," are often sought after by military service rifle shooters and hunters.
"Swedish Steel" is a term for the steel used by the Swedish and Mauser manufacturing facilities to make the M96 rifles. The Swedes felt that their steel was far superior to all others, so when Mauser was contracted to make Swedish Mausers in Germany they were required to use Swedish Steel in the manufacturing process
Model 1896 Rifle - M96
The Model 1896 (M96) rifle (6,5 mm Gevär m/96) was adopted by Sweden on March 20, 1896, designed for use with the 6.5x55 round that had been adopted in 1893 by Sweden and Norway. Production initially began at the Mauser Obendorf factory in Germany under contract, but soon after Carl Gustav in Sweden were manufacturing the rifles as well. The Swedes felt that their indigenous steel was far superior to all others, and when Mauser was contracted to manufacture M96 rifles in Germany, they were required to use Swedish steel in the manufacturing process. The M96 remained in production until 1938, when it was replaced by the M38 Carbine.
Model 1938 Rifle - M38
The M38 Rifle (6,5 mm Gevär m/38) was adopted in 1938 as part of an overall worldwide military trend (which began just before World War I) towards service rifles that were shorter in overall length than a standard infantry rifle, but longer than a cavalry carbine. Contemporary examples such as the Mauser K98, Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III, and Mosin-Nagant M91/30 were all noticeably shorter than a standard 19th century infantry rifle, and with another World War on the way the Swedes felt it would be expedient to adopt a shorter rifle for use by reserve troops and the Navy. The resulting rifle- the M38 was some 7 inches shorter than the M96 rifle, and had a bent-down bolt handle (as opposed to the straight bolt handle of most M96 rifles).
M96/38 Conversion
A number of M96 rifles were officially converted to M38 configuration, and are known as M96/38 rifles, to differentiate them from as-manufactured M38 rifles. All M38 rifles were manufactured by Husqvarna Vapenfabrik, with production finally ending in 1944.
Model 1941 Snipers Rifle
The M41 (6,5 mm Prickskyttegevär m/41) was an M96 fitted with a telescopic sight. The scope could be either the M41 German Ajack or the M42 Swedish AGA.
The Swedish Mauser was not completely phased out of service until 1995, when the last M96, M38 and M41 rifles were officially removed from service, much like the WWII AG-42 semi-automatic rifle.
More about the Swede
The Swedish m/96 rifle, which civilians generally call the Swedish Mauser Model 1896 or just the "Swedish Mauser," was introduced two years after the famous 6.5x55 cartridge and became its most enduring home. Both rifle and cartridge were tremendously successful.
The Model 1896 rifle remained the primary Swedish service rifle until 1938, when the Model 38 was adopted, and the Model 38 was basically an 1896 with a 24" barrel and an aperture rear sight. The basic 1896 action soldiered into the 1950's, when it was finally replaced by a self-loader.
The 6.5x55 cartridge has been well covered in the pages of Guns and Shooting Online, including a dedicated article and comparison articles on the Rifle Cartridge Page, so I will not go into it in depth here. Suffice to say that it combines the virtues of moderate recoil, reasonable trajectory, and good killing power. It is a medium capacity cartridge that has been proven all over the world. RCBS reports that 6.5x55 reloading dies have consistently been on their top 30 best seller list for many years.
Thousands of surplus Model 1896 Swedish Mausers were imported into the U.S. during the 1950's and 1960's, introducing large numbers of American hunters to the Swedish Mauser service rifle. The m/96 became one of the most desirable surplus rifles. Valued by shooters because it simply shot better, on average, than anything else and by collectors because of its exquisite quality and workmanship. The m/96 is probably the finest of all the early Mausers.
Sweden remained neutral in both the First and Second World Wars ("Neutrality through strength" was one Swedish motto). This means that there were no "wartime production" short cuts taken with Swedish Mausers, unlike the military rifles of almost all major combatants in the great world conflicts. There are no inferior Swedish m/96 rifles.
Indeed, the fit and finish of the m/96 is superior to that of new military rifles costing far more. My example was made by Carl Gustafs in 1906, and it shames all of the military rifles being made today. This can be taken as a commentary on both the quality and workmanship of the m/96 and the lack of it in most modern military rifles.
The 1896 action is typical of early Mauser designs, with two front locking lugs, a 90 degree bolt lift, a full length extractor for controlled feed (this requires that cartridges be fed into the chamber from the magazine), and a fixed ejector. Unlike the Mauser 98 action, the Model 96 cocks on closing and the bolt handle does not serve as an auxiliary locking lug. Otherwise the two actions are similar.
The bolt handle protrudes straight out from the right side of the action. It is apparently brazed to the bolt body, and carries a serial number that matches the bolt and the rifle. The bolt knob is smooth and round and easy to grasp. The one-piece striker (firing pin) protrudes from the rear of the bolt when cocked, and can be lowered by hand if the user has a strong thumb or fingers.
The three-position safety is located at the rear of the bolt, concentric with the striker, and rotates through approximately 180 degrees. Fully counter-clockwise (as seen from the shooter's position) is "fire," fully clockwise is "safe" and locks the bolt closed, and the intermediate straight-up position is "safe" but the bolt can be opened. This allows the magazine to be emptied by operating the bolt with the rifle still on "safe." This intermediate position also allows the bolt to be disassembled when it is removed from the rifle. The bolt release is a machined steel lever located at the left rear of the receiver that is pulled outward to release the bolt.
Everything about the m/96 action radiates quality. All major and most minor parts are carefully machined from steel; few stampings were used. All key parts bear matching serial numbers. There is even a steel cleaning rod supplied with the rifle. This protrudes from the front of the front receiver ring, which also incorporates the bayonet lug, and it can be removed for use by unscrewing.
The magazine follower is machined steel. After the last round fired and ejected, the follower locks the bolt open for rapid reloading (this was accomplished by means of stripper clips in military service). The magazine box is made of steel, as is the floorplate. The floorplate itself is not hinged, but is quick detachable for unloading by means of a recessed button at its rear. Use a ballpoint pen or the tip of a bullet to release the magazine floorplate. The roomy trigger guard is also machined from steel.
The trigger is a typical two-stage military type. After the initial slack is taken-up (the first stage), the sear is cleanly released with about 4.75 pounds of pressure (the second stage). This is a heavy rifle (approximately 9 pounds on my bathroom scale), so the 4.75 pound trigger pull is proportionately lighter than it sounds.
Unlike many classic military rifles, and almost all modern military rifles, the m/96 stock was clearly designed with an eye for line as well as function. Its overall appearance is slender and well formed, accentuated by its 29" barrel. It wears a straight-hand wood stock with a tapered 3/4 length forearm, oval in cross section, that is secured by a barrel band at the front. There is also a thin 14" handguard that runs from the front receiver ring about half way to the muzzle, also secured by a barrel band. Steel sling swivels are standard. Various woods were used, but the stock on my m/96 is straight grain walnut. The classy looking buttplate is steel.
The Swedish Mauser stock was built for strength. The comb is high and straight, like most modern stocks. This was done to accommodate the tall ladder-type open rear sight. The length of pull measures 14". Although designed in 1896, this stock is quite modern in shape and feel and will seem familiar to anyone who shoots a rifle with one of today's "modern classic" style stocks.
One last point about the m/96 stock. There is a brass disc about 30mm in diameter inletted into the right side of the buttstock. There are actually three disc variations, an early 2-screw disc, a later 2-screw disc, and a 1-screw disc. My rifle has the one screw type disc, and the information that follows pertains only to the one screw disc. For information about the two screw discs, or additional details about the one screw disc and lots of other information about Swedish weapons, see Mats' Weapons Page online. That is where I learned how to decipher the disc on my rifle.
The one screw disc is divided into 3 sections, each of which is marked in such a way as to reveal some information about that particular rifle. The smallest "slice" of the brass disc bears the numbers 1, 2, and 3 with a triangular punch mark over one of the numbers. This indicates the condition of the bore. No punch mark is perfect. 1 means a very few dark areas in the corners of the lands and grooves. 2 indicates rust in the corners of the lands and grooves and possible light rust in the grooves. 3 indicates spots of light rust throughout the grooves, but no sharp edges; this is still acceptable. A rifle scoring lower than 3 was rebarreled. My rifle is a 3, but any rifle passed by the Swedish armorers will shoot very well, as the inspectors were quite picky. The bore of my rifle looks good to the naked eye.
The next slice of the little brass disc indicates the elevation aiming error when shooting the standard m/41 Swedish service load, which used a 140 grain boat-tail spitzer bullet at a MV of around 800 m/s. There are three Swedish words in this sector of the disc. "Torped" indicates the 140 grain BT spitzer bullet (there was an earlier 156 grain RN bullet), "Overslag" means over, followed by a space and then "Str." Str is the abbreviation for streck, a unit of angle, and there are 6300 streck to a circle. Streck were used in a manner similar to the way North American shooters use minutes of angle. If there is a number in the blank space between Overslag and Str. it indicates the amount the rifle shoots over in terms of streck. 1 streck equals approximately 1/10 meter at 100 meters. So a 1 in the space on the disc indicates that rifle would shoot 10 cm (or a little less than 4") above the point of aim at 100 meters. The space is blank on my rifle's disc, indicating that it shoots to point of aim.
The largest slice of the disc has an outer and an inner arc of numbers. The outer arc bears numbers "6.51" followed by the numbers 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 (my rifle has a punch mark over the "2"). The inner arc bears the numbers "6.46" followed by 7,8,9,0 (no punch mark over a number in the inner arc on my rifle). It is my understanding that these numbers reveal the nominal bore (6.46mm) and groove (6.51mm) diameters of a new barrel. The punch mark(s) reveals the actual diameter of the particular barrel (and thus, presumably, any wear). Thus, my barrel has a groove diameter of 6.52mm. Apparently the bore diameter of my barrel measured right at 6.46mm.
If the groove diameter measures between 6.51mm and 6.53mm all was well. If the groove diameter measured 6.54mm-6.55mm the rifle was used only for training. If the groove diameter exceeded 6.56mm the rifle was rebarreled. The Swedes are very meticulous people!
The long barrel and relatively heavy (but not excessive) weight make the m/96 an easy rifle to shoot from offhand or other unsupported positions. It hangs steady when aligned with the target.
The m/96 was supplied with a clever, ladder-type open rear sight, mounted on the barrel in front of the action, where open rear sights are usually found. But this example is unusual that there are three stepped positions for ranges of 300, 400, and 500 meters with the ladder folded down (what the Swedish Army probably thought of as the "battle sight" position), and elevation stops for 600 to 2000 meters (!) when the ladder is raised. Windage adjustments were accomplished by sliding the front sight in its dovetail. This was done by Swedish armorers, not regular soldiers. Whoever did mine knew his business; I found the windage to be right on the first time that I test fired my rifle.
The m/96 is a very accurate service rifle. This was proven during the early years of the 20th Century, when the various powers held international service rifle matches. The host country provided the rifles and ammunition used in these matches to all of the teams so that all competitors used the host nations service rifle. In the entire history of this series of matches, the best scores across the board were not shot with the U.S. M-1903 Springfield, the British Lee-Enfield, or the vaunted German Model 98 Mauser, but with the Swedish m/96 and the Swiss Schmidt-Rubin rifles. These are the most accurate of the classic bolt action military rifles. No collection of military Mausers should be without a Swedish Model 1896.
Model 1894 Swedish Cavalry Carbines
The Swedish Army were using a carbine version of the Mauser as early as 1894. Its success led to the commissioning of the famous Model 96 Swedish Mauser. There were two versions of the carbine
M94 - without bayonet lug
M94/14 - bayonet lug added in 1914
