What Swede is this?

[Slugless]

I got two of these Swedes, can you help me identify the variant? My Swedish Mauser book is somewhere in an attic & I don't recall these being in there anyway. This one is all matching serial numbers & the armorer never restamped the disk. It is a 1903 model, the other is 1909. Both Carl Gustav State Arms Factory.

The threaded barrel and front sight are the big puzzles to me. Oh, wait - the front blade is missing!

The front sight is the problem. The Swedes are wicked accurate but the sights primitive. I thought I'd upgrade to Mojo sights. But...

Turns out the front sight Mojo sent was 0.50" wide. My front sight is 9mm or 0.355" wide. Even the dovetails are different angles. The original front sight is 0.30" high, too low for a Mojo snapsight.

I had figured that these rifles had been sent back to the armory to have the barrels threaded (???) and they also replaced the sights. But the finish on the sight and barrel is exactly the same.

The rears sights, as far as I know, were factory original ladders. The ones in the picture are Mojo, which seem high quality. Customer service was good from Mojo, too. I sent their sight back and they said it was indeed a Swedish front snapsight but sent me a new one anyway. I spoke to Gary there a couple times and he said he had never seen or heard of this variant. I have two, must have been the same shipment to Sarco.

What are these?
Why is the barrel threaded?
Why is the front sight different?
Can I get a thread protector, esp. one that fits so the bayonet won't rattle?
What is the spirit of the bayonet?
Any chance of there being a replacement front sight / peep sight system available?
Do I have to have a replacement machined with a flat top so I can file it down if needed?

I can always put the original sights back on.

Thanks in advance,

-Douglas

 

[davera]

The barrel is threaded to accept a blank adapter ... actually firing wooden bullets, the adapter shredded them.

 

[cracked butt]

Its a M96B.
The muzzle was threaded to accept a bullet shreddign device for training. Recruits would fire wooden bullets through these rifles to get used to firing them.

You can find tall front sights on Ebay sometimes, and Samcoglobal.com might have them.

 

[cracked butt]

You can find muzzle caps on ebay sometimes also that screw on to protect the threads.

 

[rritter]

Samco (as mentioned earlier) has the screw-on muzzle caps. I think they also have other accessories like blank ammunition, blank-firing adapters, bayonets, stripper clips, etc.

 

[Slugless]

Thread protector

Thanks for the ebay tip. I found what looks like the right item:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Muzzle-brake-flash-hider-for-a-96-Swedish-Mauser_W0QQitemZ320163107130QQihZ011QQcategoryZ73952QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have some of the wooden bullets but I couldn't figure out what the threaded tip had to do with them.

The Samco link is great.

The swede came in handy the other day. I found a gentleman named Jack lurking at the front door. Scary looking man, his eyes were glowing red. I shot him.

I think he was a zombie.

 

[Gator]

That eBay item is an after market muzzle break. There is also a simple cap that just covers the threads.

“The spirit of the bayonet is to kill!” “Blood, blood, blood makes the grass grow!” - Boot Camp chant

"The spirit of the bayonet is also the first section of the book "The Short-Timers", which was made into the movie "Full Metal Jacket".

 

[Cosmoline]

Turns out the front sight Mojo sent was 0.50" wide. My front sight is 9mm or 0.355" wide. Even the dovetails are different angles. The original front sight is 0.30" high, too low for a Mojo snapsight.

The solution I've used is some elbow grease and a hand file. Buy an oversized sourdough front sight from Brownells and just file file file. Also, sometimes you can find guys making high sights for particular military rifles with this problem. But I don't know who makes them for Swedes

 

[cracked butt]

Don't waste your money on the muzzle brake- there is no need for one with an 8 lb rifle shooting the 6.5x55, and it will screw up the rifle's accuracy.

 

[pinstripe]

That rifle is a swedish M96. I have one and it is a nice shooter.