Author Topic: 94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about them...  (Read 1004 times)

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Offline heartman

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about them...
« on: March 09, 2006, 06:31:50 AM »
Just bought a nice little 6.5x55 Swede mauser sporter all stocked up in a mannlicher stock with leupold one-piece base.  I own a 93 Spanish mauser - they appear pretty similar, but can anyone tell me more about this little 94?

Offline Racepres

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2006, 04:57:05 PM »
Noticed you haven't gotten a response. I personally haven't had a swede, nor had a bunch of experience. My friends that have 'em don't get em out much , and they don't lat me play w/ em...  It seems that swede affecianados, are rabid abt them. Bragging terribly, and generally touting and spouting abt the superiority of th weapon., That said they must be dandys, as you dont see many on the tables at gun shows or sport shops [around here anyway] I would say shoot it and enjoy it. All said it is a small ring mauser and as such it demands the considerations of the breed.... never hot load, [no +P] and do protect yer eyes as the gas handling capabilities are suspect.... $0.02, MV

Offline jh45gun

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2006, 06:24:57 PM »
There is a reason why we brag about them Racepress because they are one of the nicest mausers out there. Lazer accurate and mild recoil and a cartridge that kills big for its size what is there not to like. While the metric calibers have never been hugely popular in the States all I can say is after shooting my Swede is they do not know what they are missing. While there may be some US calibers as good there are non any better. Shoot it heartman and you will see what I mean.
Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use it.

Offline GatCat

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Your Swedish '94.
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2006, 08:41:36 PM »
The Frank DeHass book "Bolt Action Rifles" goes into them quite abit. WHen Sweden decided to adopt the Mauser, they had 5000 '94's built by Mauser Works, tested them, them ordered I think another 6000. I was lucky enough to buy a slightly sporterized '94 made in 1895 ( year of manufactor is stamped to top of reciever ring). Many were imported and restamped with some silly number to capitalize on the G33-40 '98 mauser ( I think the restamp might have been G33-50 or something). Anyway, you have a neat little rig. If the bore is shot, you can still buy new M38 barrels, and leave them long, or shorten to match the original. Enjoy.

Offline CowboyEngr

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2006, 07:05:43 AM »
The Swedes are nice rifles and I've never seen one that did not shoot extremely well.  The small ring action is widely regarded to not be as strong as the 98 type large ring and I'm sure that is probably true.  Given a rather modest pressure type cartridge, such as the 6.5x55, they are completely safe.  The workmanship is superb.  I have owned them in military form in 6.5x55 and in commercial form in 9.3x57 & 9.3x62.  The 9.3x62 is a superb, powerful cartridge, but not especially high pressure.  But, it has a sterling reputation as a killer, so why hot-rod it.

To me, the only down side to a Swede is the cock-on-close design of the bolt and that is really not a significant issue.  It just changes your bolt throw method a little.

When you could buy the military Swedes for around $100, they made very nice medium game rifles at modest cost.  The are starting to fetch much higher prices now, due to a loyal following and drying up supplies.  You can still find them between $250 & $300 and they are probably worth it, just to experience how things used to be done.

Offline Cement Man

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2006, 08:22:15 AM »
Congratulations on your Swede.  I have several 96's and 38's aqcuired about 15 years ago at real bargain prices.  I was captivated by the quality and accuracy of these rifles - available at such a reasonable cost.  I always wonder what it would cost today to build a rifle, duplicating that kind of quality.  I never found a model 94, but I would snap one up if I did, and the it was affordable.  I'm by no means an expert, but I believe that in the evolution of the Mauser bolt rifle, the 98 is considered the high point in design.  The Swedes, by design, are the stage just under - having 2 lugs on the bolt, etc.  The 98 has 3 and considered a stronger design.  The Swedes on the other hand were noted for the finest steel - contributing to the quality and strength of these actions.  I hope you enjoy your Swede, they are treasures.  Please let us know how it shoots. :D
CIVES ARMA FERANT - Let the citizens bear arms.
POLITICIANS SHOULD BE LIMITED TO TWO TERMS - ONE IN OFFICE AND ONE IN PRISON.... Illinois already does this.

Offline simonkenton

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2006, 11:04:06 AM »
Are you sure it is a 94? They are pretty scarce, and if in original military configuration, very valuable.
Anyway I have two of the 96s and they are great little guns. One is the model 38, which is a 96 cut down to the carbine size.
The little 6.5 Swedish is widely used in Scandanavia for moose hunting, and, believe it or not, to kill polar bears.
Aim small don't miss.

Offline Davemuzz

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2006, 09:24:24 AM »
I picked up a Swede M96 about a month ago. A guy joined my gun club after he moved to Pa. from Calif. and sold me his for $125. He told me he bot it 10 years earlier and never shot it.

This was built in 1915. Well, I bot some dies and bullets, went to the range and this gun hits the gong at 200 yards as consistently with open sights as anything with a scope. Recoil is like a soft 32 caliber. All numbers match including the stock.

Yup, this one is just for shootin at the range. It does make ya smile! :D

Offline Slamfire

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2006, 04:44:40 PM »
I had one once. Bought it from some mail order house, probably Hy Hunter. Unfortunately that was before you could find reloadable brass. You had to pull the full metal jacketed bullets, substitute a lighter expansion type, and have at it. Oh, you could substitue a canister grade powder, but why bother. I took it out west with me but traded it for a Japanese Type 38 Carbine rechambered for 6.5-.257. The Arisaka was actually the more accurate of the two, after gettin' an aperature rear sight. The little Swede was very much like the 93 Mausers, just a couple minor changes like the bottom of the bolt face. Nothin' the matter with them but they'd be better off in the original military trim.  :D
Bold talk from a one eyed fat man.

Offline jh45gun

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2006, 07:12:56 PM »
From the sound of your post slamfire it sounds like you were just making up cobbled up reloads from milsurp and having at it nothing wrong with that I guess but not a true indication of what that Swede might have done with good ammo.   Jim
Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use it.

Offline holdover

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swede '94
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2006, 05:01:31 PM »
I collected them for years, bought my first one in 1962 for 34.99, wanted a springfield a3 but the surplus store was sold out, did what any 16 yr old would do with money , buy something else. Never looked back. Over the years I've owned about a dozen, some '94s some 94-14s. A full military with matching numbers in nice condition will bring $800-1000, trust me on this, some were ones I paid 34.99 for. I still have a bubba worked over one. Great shooters. BTW original stocks and Bayo mount for a '94 are going for abour 300 on ebay, and you have to remember that they will not have numbers that match your action.

They show up on Gunboards every once in awhile

Offline Cheesehead

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94
« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2006, 06:54:08 PM »
I have two model 96 and one model 38 swedes. I am not familiar with 94.  How is the 94 different?
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance.

Offline Cement Man

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #12 on: March 19, 2006, 01:37:23 AM »
This artcile reviews the various models pretty well. :D
http://www.northcapepubs.com/swmauser.htm
CIVES ARMA FERANT - Let the citizens bear arms.
POLITICIANS SHOULD BE LIMITED TO TWO TERMS - ONE IN OFFICE AND ONE IN PRISON.... Illinois already does this.

Offline rockbilly

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2006, 07:01:18 AM »
:roll: All of the Sweds are excellent rifles.  I bought my first one back in the mid latr 50s for $20.  SInce then I have bought and sold a l;east 100 of them.  I sportirized and resold for many years, removing military sights, bending the bolt, cange the safety out, drill and tap for scope base, replace the wood and put a new blueing job on them.  The gun makes an excellent hunter, and is will taake most North American game. Looking back, I regret butchering some of those guns, I would like to have them today in their original military configeration.  Currently I own 9 of them, two 38, a 94, two 96s, three that I have sportrized, and one that was done by Kinber which is trash.  They did a sorry job of turning the barrell, it is not accurate at all.  I plan to replace the barrell.

Slamfire.  Herter's was one of the first to sell dies and brass for the Swed.  I bought brass and dies in the early 60s and still use the dies today.  As for reloading, before firing any old military gun, have it checked over by a gunsmith, especially today where parts may be taken from several sources to assemble a gun.  Often when this is done, headspace in not checked, and there may also be other issues that would make the gun unsafe to shoot.  If you reload, approach max loads with caution.  Most will handle the max loads printed in the reloading books, but it it always best to work up the the load.

You should have a good shooter, enjoy it! :D

Offline Slamfire

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #14 on: March 19, 2006, 03:43:30 PM »
I never ever heard of Herters until late '65, by then my Arisaka had a couple of 'bou to its credit.  :D
No doubt if'n I'd kept that 94 the way I got it, I'd be money ahead these days.  :oops:
Bold talk from a one eyed fat man.

Offline rockbilly

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94 Swedish mauser - can you tell me about t
« Reply #15 on: March 23, 2006, 12:43:14 PM »
:wink: slamfire.  I won't swear to it, but I think Herter's was one of the first mail order sporting goods establishments.  In my opinion, they were one of the best, and handled some very good merchandice for the shooter, hunter and gun smiths.  I used several of their semi-inleted stocks for several makes of guns, and would use nothing but their glass bed and finish products.  I don't know when the went out of business, but they left a void when they did.  They have attempted to make a come back, but there are too many new stores to compete with today.

During this period, you could find just about anything you wanted/needed in their catalog.  I spent many winter nights flipping pages and dreaming. :wink: