Won't stabilise 156 or 160 grainers?
Geez, that's rare for a M96.
Can't think bbl length would make that much difference.
If you'd cut back a long barrelled Carcano which had gain-twist rifling then I could understand it but not a Swede.
Plenty of the M38 Swedes quite happily stabilise the heavy pills and they're a 23" bbl.
Now, as to hunting in Oz, it depends where you live.
In the big cities the general populace don't hunt and most don't even approve of guns(
read: have never seen one in the flesh and watch too much TV 
) but if you head bush most country towns have a solid rifle or trap or pistol club.
We have significant numbers of feral species around normal farms and smaller national parks like bunnies, cats, hares, goats and foxes which make nuisances of themselves.
Then there the deer in highlands down the East Coast and in spots of South Australia and Tasmania.
And finally, mostly up north and out in central Australia, are the hogs, camels, donkeys, brumbies(feral horses), scrub bull (feral cattle) and Asiatic water buffalo.
On top of that, for those with farmer mates who have the tags, is roo culling.
Suffice to say, if you have the time, money and/or contacts you need never leave Oz to have a varied hunting experience.
The shooting community does cop a hiding in the press but for the most part all they know is how to spin stuff so it sounds bad, not how safe or humane the overwhelming majority of hunters are.
Sure, there's a redneck mentality to some of it but I've found that it's mostly bravado and that the same guys who sound like they've just come down from the hills will be the first ones to pull you up when it comes to hunting ettiquite.
Most of them have reached the point where they'd stand lazily with their rifle over their shoulder(unloaded with the bolt and ammo locked in their car) and smile evilly while they blast banjo music from a CD player, just to scare off the tree huggers!
