At what distance were Carl Gustaf's Model 1896 rifles sighted in at?

[orpington]

I recently purchased 2 of these, one with all matching numbers, except the ladder sight, dating from 1915. The price at auction really good. Then a second one, dating from 1903, all matching numbers, at an even better price.

Not a collector of these, but I respect fine workmanship.

I took the one from 1903 to the range yesterday. Sight in down position, ladder component not employed. At 100 yards, never touched the paper. At 50 yards, grouped 3/4" x 7/8", 4 shots. 5th shot brought this to 3/4" x 21/2". But 11" above dead centre. Which tells me that it probably was still climbing at 100 yards.

Not sure how high this would group if the ladder sight were employed, even set low.

So, where were these sighted in for? I am guessing that Sweden, being relatively neutral/docile, and quite expansive, and not being an offensive nation, may have reasoned that such military rifles should be sighted in for defensive purposes--e.g., hit the invading enemy at great distance an minimize future problems?

 

[Scooter22]

IIRC the lowest setting on the ladder in the down position is 300 meters. then 400 and 500. When the ladder is up lowest setting is 600 meters and then it goes up over 1000 meters or more. I dont remember how far.

 

[orpington]

Yes, of course, metres; for these purposes, metres and yards are close enough to be synonymous.

So, 300 metres/yards? And more...

Was this for the defensive purposes I previously suggested?

 

[Laphroaig]

Yes, 300 meters is the lowest setting. They taught a center of mass hold at shorter ranges, which would still be effective on a man sized target.

You can purchase high front sight blades and file them down to get a zero at your desired range. Also, IMO, the Swedish military ball ammo was loaded pretty warm. A softer handload will bring the impact down some too and be more pleasant to shoot.

 

[Catcar67]

I believe that most military long rifles were zero sighted at 200-300 yards with the ladder sights set for 500-1200+ yards..

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

Mosins are the exact same way

 

[Scooter22]

Just about all of the military rifles of that era have sights set up for those long distances. It wasn't for the individual solider to try and hit another individual. It was for volley fire at an approaching army. You'ld have an officer calling out the range to adj your sight and the whole line would fire.

 

[boom boom]

They make an aftermarket tall front sight for the Swede to zero at 100 yards for less than $20. Numrich and Sarco did sell it very recently. The zero also is different depending on which military issued ammo is fired so that is why a lot of them have that information on the stock on a plate or decal. These are for a m96 Mauser.

 

[orpington]

Can someone translate those plates? I am not fluent in Swedish.

 

[boom boom]

Sorry, go to dutchman.rebooty.com/traj.html which has the markings translated. Swedes originally used a long round headed bullet and switched to Spitzers.

 

[Dr T]

Interestingly, and slightly of topic, I have a pre-Norinco SKS that shoots about like the op's 1896. I have also heard that it had to do with the center- of- mass hold on target. Since distances are difficult to estimate in field conditions I can understand the reasoning.

 

[Sky Dog]

Check to see if the front sight is worn down. A friend of mine had a Mosin that shot maybe 3 feet high at 100 yards.