A Tale of Two 96s

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. With apologies to Mr. Dickens, please pardon my plagiarism, but it might really have been one of the best of times for firearms development in history. Arthur Savage introduced his model 99. Oliver Winchester gave the world his many lever-action models. Peter Paul Mauser took his 93, 94 and 95s and improved upon them to build the 96 Mauser, also known as the Swedish Mauser as it is long associated with that country.

This was the last action, and the last cock-on-closing Mauser, to be introduced before the renowned Model 98 came upon the scene. Smokeless powder was coming into its own as well as developments such as the Model 1905 Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP) and its ammunition which would become the model 1911. Many other inventors were at work although most of their firearms have become obsolete and fallen by the wayside after but brief success.

We could also make a case that this was the worst of times since world war was barely over the horizon. Luckily for collectors and builders like me, Sweden decided to remain neutral during the two world wars. The only 96s I know of that actually saw combat use were a number of samples that were transferred to Finland to fight the Nazis. The Swedes did not have to make wartime production shortcuts and the quality of these rifles found today reflects that fact.

Some years ago I was able to procure two good complete actions sans barrel and stock. They are marked "CARL GUSTAFS STADS, GE- VARSFAKTORI", meaning literally, Rifle Factory of Carl Gustaf’s Town, indicating they were produced at the state armory in a small town in From left to right, a syntheticstocked version, the as-issued military model and a wood-stocked rifle. 35 Remington. Sweden. Gustav V, of course, was the king of Sweden at that time.

The dates stamped on top of the receivers of these my two rifles are 1915 and 1922. Barring a few dings and bumps the actions are in very good condition considering their age. Rather than delve into a history that all of us are familiar with let me say that most 96 Mausers available today have matching numbers on all parts. They have increased drastically in price from just a few years ago. Collectors are discovering them and care should be taken accordingly before any chop and cut conversions.

So, what was I to do with these actions? I decided to build one with a wood stock and the other with a synthetic handle to give myself a comparison of which I would like most. I could always fit an extra wood or synthetic stock if I wished to have even more flexibility. If finished

properly even a plain walnut stock looks better than most of today’s factory jobs. With hand checkering prices what they are I figured that if I was able to put a couple of reasonably professional scratches on it the value would increase proportionately. A plain, yet functional, point pattern will dress up any hunting rifle. The synthetic stock might be more practical for the hunting field since they aren’t prone to warping and any dings and dents are not as disastrous as on a traditional wood stock.

Weight of these rifles would also be an issue. I wanted to see which of the stocks would be the best match for a hunting rifle. These two almost identical rifles would make for an interesting test. As it turned out, the wood-stocked rifle ended up at nine pounds with scope and the synthetic was slightly lighter at eight and three quarter pounds. I realize other gunsmiths have used these actions for.the .308 class of cartridges. Just don’t load ‘em too hot, they say. I can’t condone that practice.

The .308 Winchester is offered by the various factories with pressures upwards of 50,000 Copper Units of Pressure, while the original 6.5x55mm Swedish round designed for this action rarely tops out at 45,000 CUP. Some of these high-pressure loads are bound to find their way into our conversions. If you want higher pressures use a Mauser 98 or one of the many commercial actions available and don’t fool around with a marginal piece.

That being said, I have converted several of these rifles to .35 Remington and, being a fan of the .35s, I decided to take that route. This Notice the depth is about file width. You must make your own decision about this shape for whatever pleases you. cartridge operates in a pressure range that the 96s will accommodate easily. Actually, you can go a little hotter than factory and still be in a comfort zone with these boltaction rifles compared to a lever action.

Remember I said "a little." The relatively weak structure of the .35 Remington case doesn’t lend itself to being turned into a magnum. I can usually get around 100 to 150 feet per second more than standard loads in my 96s and still feel safe. Another factor is the modifications that have to be made at the bolt face to get these rifles to feed and eject properly. The case head diameter on a 6.5×55 is a unique 0.480 inches. On

Do not make a knife edge out of this part. Taken together they change the military persona of this rifle to one that should be taken afield. a .35 Remington it is 0.460 inch leaving 0.020 of slop. I solved this problem by obtaining a universal extractor from Brownells and shaping it to fit. This seems to work well but one of the problems I encountered had to do with the almost hundred-year-old magazine springs. I suggest replacing them with new ones.

A full load of five .35 Remington cases loaded with powder and 200 grain bullets stress these ancient but critical parts. If the springs are not replaced I recommend using only three rounds, one in the chamber and two in the magazine, to ensure good feeding. This will be plenty of firepower in almost any deer hunting situation. Having made these decisions my course was set and I looked forward to seeing the finished products. How close would they be to each other? I didn’t want clones.

Each should have its own personality but still be twins. To keep the rifles different I polished one of the actions to 600 grit and left it in the white. These actions are made of a cupronickel alloy, which is a mixture of copper and nickel. This helps protect the action from rust but still requires proper maintenance. The bolt body, shroud, cocking piece were left as is. The Timney safety came blued from the factory but I left the handle unblued and I haven’t done anything to the extractor beyond fitting.

I blued the rest of the gun and I think gives an interesting appearance to the rifle. The other action was polished to 320 and blued with the rest of the parts. The actions on these rifles aren’t the only parts that need attention. I decided to reshape the military trigger guards to something a little less "clunky" and thoroughly polish the bottom metal. As can be seen in the illustrations, I "pinched" or A high polish is needed here because of the way it stands out on the completed rifle.

The numbers and crown stamp are legible and not dished out by polishing. The front of the Redfield scope mount matches the contours of the receiver. indented the guard on top to have a more pleasing flow and rounded the bottom to match. I also enlisted my grandson’s help in this process. First, because this job is tedious and not much fun, and second, I wanted him to understand the process and also appreciate how much work this actually takes to get the bottom metal in order.

One of the floor plates had various dings in it that needed to be worked out. Putting it on a block and tapping the underside with a heavy punch can iron out many of the more egregious dents. When looking at the bottom of the rifle this little piece really stands out as well as the trigger

Because of its prominent position on the rifle care should be taken to polish it accordingly. The synthetic-stocked gun came standard with a hard-rubber pad and swivels. The difference in recoil is subjective. Take your pick. guard, so it must be finely polished. I decided to use three grits of paper to polish: 180, 220, and 320. I wanted sanding lines to be lengthwise in the final finish, so I started with 180 grit in line with the bottom metal then going to 220 across and finally 320 back in line.

Using several shapes of sanding blocks I took a lot of care to keep the original lines straight and the corners sharp. Also, this piece is numbered and has a small Swedish Crown stamped on it, so care was taken not to dish these markings out. Something is needed to hold the bottom metal while working it. It should be sturdy, especially when using the file, however, these pieces can be easily bent and disfigured if clamped in a vise. I solved this problem by making my own holding fixture from apiece of angle iron.

I did much the same thing for holding the action and a treatise on the subject can be found in the May 2010 issue of this magazine. This is a relatively simple fixture to make and I have included several pictures of it in use. For indenting the tops of the trigger guards I started with a half-round bastard mill file and removed about the width of the file where the guards begin to be covered by the stock and then smoothed out the ends of the cut.

You will have to make your own decisions as to what you are satisfied with. I continued with a second cut and smooth file before finally using abrasive paper for the final finish. The bottom of the trigger guard was again started by using the half-round bastard file and working across the guard in a rounding fashion until I got the shape I wanted and then finishing with smoother files and abrasive paper as described. One thing, do not overdo the rounding of the guard and end up with a knife edge.

What you want is to take the 90-degree angle off the military feature and leave a pleasing shape. If too sharp it will hinder good gun handling. Make sure this edge is polished correctly and will not cut a trigger finger. I like peep or receiver sights. With the possible exception of an intermediate eye relief scoped Scout rifle, I don’t think there is along gun that is easier to handle in the field than a peep-sighted carbine. That being said, my aging eyes preclude their use.

Peeps are fun and OK for the range but when hunting respect for the game animal demands more precise sighting equipment. That’s why I decided to drill and tap these guns for scope mounting. Grinding off the top of the rear of the receiver is required to use Weaver-type mounts, however, only three holes need to be drilled for the Redfield JR one-piece bases so I decided to try these for a change. The weight is only a few ounces more than Weaver bases, plus they look good and are very strong.

The wood-stocked rifle was fitted with a Leupold six power which I feel is ideal for a short-range (150 yards) cartridge such as the .35 Remington. The synthetic-stocked gun has a Leupold 3×9 mounted. I think both scopes look good on these rifles. The cocking piece on a model 96 Mauser is a strange affair which I am told was mandated by the Swedish Military. It is an L-shaped part with serrations on top apparently so the rifle could be cocked by hand.

The Swedes must’ve had really strong fingers because I have a lot of trouble pulling one of these things back. I don’t know if it was the real or imagined misfires with period ammunition that the high command was trying to fail safe or not, but I can’t think of any other reason for this part’s existence. Like our appendix, it is unnecessary. I ground it off both guns. I believe it gives the back of the receiver a better appearance and it has no place in the function of the rifle.

Be careful not to go too fast and compromise the heat treating of the part. Polish it up and no one will ever miss it.

I am a fan of Timney triggers and safeties. These parts are relatively inexpensive and they work. What more can you ask? The triggers are held in place with one pin and are easily installed. Adjustments are simple and seem to hold the settings well. The "wing" safeties require a small notch to be cut in the cocking piece for proper fitting. This is best accomplished by using a small cutting wheel on an end mill such as the Dremel. On the synthetic-stocked rifle I decided to use the military trigger.

I ended up with a very crisp five and one-half pound pull without creep while the Timney is a two and one-half pound dream. Still, the military two-stage trigger is well suited for hunting where a too-light trigger can present safety concerns. An aftermarket trigger may require a minor milling operation on the guard to provide clearance. Both bolt handles were cut off and new ones from Brownells welded on. I am not happy with the result, but it is what it is.

I used a bolt-welding jig supplied by B-Square and plenty of protective heat paste for this project. While I can’t say I’ve used dozens of different knobs on these kinds of rifles, I felt that the clearance left something to be desired. A lot of grinding and polishing was needed to get these bolt handles where they could be worked under a scope properly. I think it may take more than one welding session to get all the little pits removed that are supposed to be minimized by the TIG process.

Of course, welding skill and experience come into play here. The barrel for the wood-stocked rifle was obtained from Brownells and is a short-chambered Shilen. The other rifle is served with an Adams & Bennett tube from Midway USA. Both barrels were cut to 22 inches and tipped with a recessed crown to protect the muzzle. As most of you are aware, there is a huge discrepancy in the price of these barrels and I was very curious to compare how well the guns would shoot.

Both were hand-chambered using a finish reamer supplied by Dave Manson Reamers (mansonreamers. com, The leading edges of the chambers were beveled slightly with a stone to ensure proper feeding. The Fajan synthetic stock came from Midway USA. It sports a hardrubber recoil pad and pre-installed sling swivels. Installation was a straight forward drop in.

The only problem with these types of stocks is that most bedding materials such as Acraglas won’t adhere to them, so the bedding is pretty much limited to what you get without modification. Surprisingly, at least to me, this rifle shoots more than adequately. I obtained two blank extractors from Brownells and went to work with the Dremel tool equipped with a tiny sanding drum to shape them. I also used my one-inch belt sander to good effect. This job is not necessarily the task for an amateur.

I suggest on your first attempt to study the curves and angles of the original extractor. Don’t go too fast because you can burn this part enough to make it unusable with the power tools. Use the belt sander to thin the chamber end so that the bolt can close over it and to thin the entire extractor as needed. Use the Dremel to make the small concave cut and curves needed to fit the .35 Remington case.

The case should feed and be held under the extractor with a firm fit and be able to pop up under spring pressure from the magazine. As far as I know these extractors are not available pre-cut for the 96s so if any of you have an easier way to do this job I would really like to hear from you The wood stock as received resembled the shape of a hacked-out 2×4. At least I thought it was very rough. The suppliers have to produce them so the gun maker has enough excess wood to shape it to his or her liking.

If you’ve never fitted apiece of wood like this to a gun you’re in for a real treat. I started on the bottom metal since this must mate with the receiver perfectly. After many hours and the use of copious inletting black the top of the gun was mated with the bottom of the gun. The action was glass-bedded leaving the barrel free-floated. I then took it to the range to see if it would blow up when fired. Just kidding, of course.

I had checked the headspace and just wanted to go ahead and shoot these guns after working on them for so long. I didn’t try either for accuracy, only to see if they went bang safely. Besides, I didn’t have anything else more important to do that day. Back in the shop I mounted a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad and started shaping the wood stock. Underneath that rough exterior I was surprised to find a pretty nice looking piece of wood.

I finished it using my usual method, which is too involved to go into here and I’ll save it for another article. The stock was not that expensive but turned out to have a very pleasing look with good grain and some figure in the walnut. I checkered the grip with a simple point pattern at eighteen lines to the inch. This was not an exquisite handle of hard exhibition-grade French Walnut and I didn’t think it could hold any finer checkering, but I like it.

Accuracy with these two guns was respectable with consistent three-shot inch groups at fifty yards with the barrels not yet broken in. I wish I could get some of my newer factory rifles to shoot this well. I cannot note any difference in the accuracy level of the more expensive barrel to the Adams & Bennett tube. Time and a lot more shooting may prove me wrong on that observation.

The 96 Mausers make an interesting project for conversion but they are becoming scarce and expensive and the collector value has risen proportionately. If you have a 96 action gathering dust in your shop I recommend turning it into a hunting rifle you can be proud of. AG