Two old abuse victims

[mjr11470]

G'day gents,

Recently picked up these two old rifles. One's a 1911 M96/38 Swedish Mauser, and the other an all matching 1944 No. 1 Mk III*. The Swede is all matching except for the bolt, which is still a Husqvarna factory forged turned down bolt from what I can tell, and would've been changed over when it was converted to m38 spec (?). Bright bore, rifling is strong, has a Metallverken Vasteras rear dial sight on it and it shoots great. The .303, though, is all matching including the bolt. Great bore, and shoots very well also.

But, they've been hacked up. It looks like someones taken sand paper to the Mauser finish while the stock has still been on, drilled and tapped it, the stock disk is missing, and I think it might have some horrible purple-ish stain rubbed into the stock, I can't really tell if it's original. And the .303, well, someones really had their way on the stock. At least it hasn't been drilled and tapped, or the barrel chopped though.

Why can't people leave these old girls alone?

So anyway, I was just wondering if anyone here could tell me a thing or two about these rifles? I know there's some smart Mauser and Lee enthusiasts on here, and I could be wrong with half of the things I just said Happy to send more photos of stampings or parts.

Cheers,

Matt.

[Deacon]

Yeah I can tell you something about them. They are ****** cool! Good find mate. Can't be more helpful than that unfortunately. I'm pretty keen to find an old Milsurp 303 for myself this year.

[Supaduke]

The bolt on your swede is from a Husky. The converted m/96's had a straight bolt handle. Husquvarna made m/38's from scratch with a turned down bolt. The removal of finish from the swede is just criminal :/ . The stock on the smelly is..... ... different, I'm sure whoever did it thought it looked pretty awesome at the time. You can get thread protectors or flash hiders for the swede too.

[<<Genesis93>>]

Interesting grip enhancement.... dots...

The bolt on the Smellie looks like it predates the rifle a few decades...at least the cocking piece...you could return it to near original if you wanted..

If they shoot well..... alls good

[Hatter]

Why can't people leave these old girls alone?

Bubba's gotta do what he's gotta do.

[No1Mk3]

G'day mjr11470,
Your 303 is easily restorable with a new stock set, worth doing with the rest of it in good nick. As for the Swede, that is also restorable. A good gunsmith/tinker can fill the tapped holes and restore the crown stamp, it is usually not invisible but must be looked for to be seen. the barrel needs re-blacking anyway, so no harm done in fixing the action. The bolt is a later replacement done when the action was drilled, in order to give clearance for the scope. You will need to pull the barrel to check the stock number in the channel matches the action, and also to see if the original colour is visible. Don't be too concerned about the colour of the stock, though, as 7 types of wood were used in Swedish rifles, and during m/38 conversion many stocks were stained, including the Elm stocks, so your finish may be original that has faded. It would need a closer examination by a Swedish rifle enthusiast to tell for sure. I have 2 Swedes with similar finishes, as well as some with original timber. If you want more, come to Eagle Park 1st Sunday of the month and we will give your Swede the "once over" Cheers.

[wrenchman]

my son has a swedish i gave him seem like nice lite gun i shot it a few months back it still has fatory triger and i did not shoot it to good but it was not the gun it was the nut behind the stock.

[Noisydad]

Great find! May they lead to an old stuff addiction!

[mjr11470]

Cheers for the all great replies fellas! I would love to return the .303 back to its original configuration, especially since everything matches and the metalwork hasn't been messed with. Although, from what I can tell I'll have a hard time finding a stock. I've got everything from nose cap, sling swivel/barrel band, rear sight guard, ect all ready to go. And Genisis that's a good eye you have. I'll have to keep an eye out for a 'block' style cocking piece! Apart from the stock and cocking piece it seems to all be standard.

Had a look at the Swede stock, and it does match. The inside is the same colour, too. So it is standard it seems.

[No1Mk3]

G'day mjr11470,
Finding woodwork is not hard, finding them at the "right" price is the hard part. Melbourne Gun show is on 1st and 2nd of April, Shepparton this week, 4th and 5th of March. You will find parts at either place, Cheers.

[simmo]

To abuse against milsurps...Australia says NO!

[Kelix]

That is some pro "checkering" with the drill bit and marker